.t  . 


ly  205  .B526  1915 
Blanchard,  Charles  A.  1848- 
1925. 

Getting  things  from  God 


GETTING  THINGS 
FROM  GOD 


Jlso  by  Dr.  Blanchard 

LIGHT  ON  THE  LAST 
DAYS 

BEING  FAMILIAR  STUDIES  IN 
THE  BOOK   OF  REVELATION 


The  Author  says: 

"l  believe  that  the  church  in  this  age  sorely  needs  the 
teaching  of  this  book  (the  Revelation) — needs  it  for  guid- 
ance, for  comfort  and  for  warning.  We  are  approaching  the 
times  with  which  this  book  particularly  deals.  We  have  no 
right  to  be  indifferent  about  it.  God  has  written  these  words 
for  the  help  of  His  people  in  all  ages  since  they  were  written, 
but  they  are  of  special  importance  to  us  and  those  who  suc- 
ceed us> 

"Further,  I  have  found  that  God's  people  in  our  time  are 
greatly  interested  in  this  book.  I  have  seldom  preached  on 
it  without  having  friends  ask  me  if  the  sermons  were  in  print. 
This  shows  that  the  heart  of  man  answers  in  this  case,  ac  in 
ail  other  cases,  to  the  Word  of  God. 

12mo,  152  pages,  paper,   65  cents  net 
Fine   cloth,  gilt  stamp,    $L10         net 

The  Bible  Institute  Colportage  Ass'n 

826  North  La  Salle  Street,  Chicago 


GETTING  THINGS 
FROM  GOD 

A  STUDY  OF  THE  PRAYER  LIFE 


BY 

CHARLES  A.  BLANCHARD,  D.D. 

Prtsidtnt  fVheaton  College,  President  Chicago  Hebrew  Mission,  Ex-President 
National  Christian  Association,  Ex-President  Federation  of  Illinois 
Colleges,  Director  Chicago  Tract  Society,  Ex-President  College 
$eetion  of  Illinois  Stat     Teachers  Association,  Ex- 
President  College  Section  of  National 
Teachers  Assixiation,  ttt. 


CHICAGO 

The  Bible  Institute  Colportage  Association 

826  NORTH  LA  SALLE  STREET 


Copyright,  1915,  by 

The  Bible  Institute  Colportage 

Association  of  Chicago 


TO  MY  DEAR  AND  LOVING  WIFE 

FRANCESCA 

in  grateful  memory  of  the  blessed  years  of 
companionship  in  service  for  the  Kingdom 
of    our    Lord    and    Saviour    Jesus   Christ. 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

Introductory ^ 13 

All  people  question  as  to  prayer — Man  Incurably  re- 
ligious— Infidels  and  atheists  pray — Does  God  answer 
prayer? — Children  ask — Men  ask — Ministers  ask — ^Why  a 
book  on  prayer?— Books  that  have  helped  me — Andrew 
Murray — William  E.  Biederwolf — E.  M.  Bounds — Austin 
Phelps — ^R.  A.  Torrey — Why  another  book? — Each  man  to 
give  his  own  testimony — No  one  to  bear  witness  for  an- 
other— This  book  in  payment  of  a  debt. 

PART  ONE 
What  Is  It  to  Pray? 

I. — Talking  with   God      '  .    .    19 

Foreword — The  sin  of  prayerlessness — Careless  thinking 
on  the  most  important  subject — Searching  the  Scriptures 
most  imcommon — No  knowledge  of  duty  unless  we  search 
the  Scriptures — Which  teach  us  to  pray — Faith  like  a  grain 
of  mustard  seed — Prayer  not  a  matter  of  words — The 
Pharisee  prayed  with  himself;  that  is,  he  did  not  pray— 
Pretended  prayer  an  insult  to  God — The  prayer  spirit — 
The  child  spirit — "Our  Father" — This  attitude  involves 
submission,  obedience — A  disobedient  child — A  rebel — 
"Examine  yourselves" — Are  we  like  little  children?  If  not, 
we  cannot  pray — "Let  not  that  man  think  that  he  shall 
receive  anything  of  the  Lord." 

II. — What  Is  an  Answer  to  Prayer? 27 

Foreword — Is  "No"  an  answer  to  prayer? — The  life  of 
a  child — A  business  difficulty — One  in  sore  temptation — If 
God  refuses  or  neglects  to  help,  is  prayer  answered?— 
Answered  prayer,  prayer  which  secures  the  thing  desired. 
If  we  do  not  have  the  thing  we  ask,  we  do  not  have  an 
answer;  that  is,  for  the  ordinary  mind — A  sin  to  trifle 
•with  sore  hearts. 

III. — Can  a  Sinner  Pray? 35 

Foreword — All  men  sinners,  but  some  men  pardoned  sin- 
ners.   Others  rebels — No  rebel  has  a  child  heart,  is  loving, 
5 


Getting  Things  From  God 


CHAP.  PAGE 

obedient,  confiding;  therefore  he  cannot  pray  in  any  large 
sense  of  that  word — "If  I  regard  iniquity" — ^What  shall  a 
sinner  do? — Cease  to  be  a  sinner — Become  a  son;  it  is 
possible;  it  is  duty — Neglect  of  this  a  deadly  danger. 

IV. — Do  Christians  Always  Pray? 41 

Foreword — Dr.  Maclaren's  lecture — The  teaching  of 
James — How  is  this  possible? — Because  we  do  not  think 
but  rather  struggle,  because  we  do  not  believe,  do  not  rest 
upon  promises;  rest  in  desires — Because  we  are  too  busy — 
Busy  fathers  and  mothers — Busy  doctors  in  sanitariums — 
Busy  undertakers  and  grave-diggers — "No  God  at  our 
house.  I  like  to  live  where  there  is  a  God" — Pray  always 
about  everything. 

V. — The  Sin  of  Prayerlessness 53 

Foreword — The  work  of  the  preacher — The  need  of  the 
preacher — The  prayer  movement  in  South  Africa — Prayer 
not  a  matter  of  words — God's  commands  are  His  en- 
ablings — No  insuperable  difficulties  in  the  way  of  prayer — 
God  not  hindered  by  His  own  plans — Not  to  pray  a  sin 
to  be  repented  of  and  put  away. 

VI. — Dialogue  or  Monologue? 61 

Foreword — No  successful  preaching  v,'ithout  successful 
praying — The  privilege  of  prayer — Prayer  a  dialogue  be- 
tween the  soul  and  God — George  Miiller's  texts — A  conver- 
sation with  the  Ruler  of  the  universe — Walking  with  the 
Ruler  of  the  universe — Too  good  to  believe,  if  we  did  not 
know  it  true. 

PART  TWO 
The  Conditions  of  Successful  Prayer 

I. — Submission  to  God's  Will 67 

Foreword — Death-dealing  prayers — A  praying  school  for 
preachers — "Not  my  will,  but  Thine" — Motto  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Alliance — Submission  to  God  the  only  rational 
attitude — The  mother  who  prayed  for  the  life  of  her  bo}^ — 
The  praying  alphabet — The  free  train — God  has  a  right 
to  plan  our  lives — Willing  to  be  made  willing — F.  B. 
Meyer's  testimony. 

II. — "With  Thanksgiving" 77 

Foreword — Haste  and  inattention  in  prayer — No  real 
preaching  without  real  praying — No  real  praying  without 
thanksgiving — "Where  are  the  nine?" — "As  to  those  mat- 
ters, Father,  which  are  between  me  and  Thee" — Why  need- 


Contents 


CHAP.     '  PAGB 

ful  to  say  that  we  are  thankful  ? — The  mother  and  her  six 
boys — Husbands  and  wives,  parents  and  children — More 
expression  of  gratitude  called  for. 

III. — "Confess  Your  Faults  One  to  Another,  and  Pray"  .  .  85 
Foreword — Ambition,  desire,  vanity,  stumbling  blocks  to 
prayer — The  three  hardest  words  to  pronounce  in  the 
English  language — An  experience  of  confession — Reason 
for  giving  a  personal  testimony — Gifts  of  healing — A  baby 
seemingly  raised  from  the  dead — A  wife  thirteen  hours  on 
her  knees  by  the  side  of  a  dead  husband — Seven  doctors 
but  the  man  alive — False  faiths  take  up  neglected  truths. 

IV. — 'Whatsoever  Ye  Shall  Ask  in  My  Name" 97 

Foreword — The  sermon  an  affair  of  the  heart,  not  of  the 
head — Easier  to  fill  the  head  than  the  heart — Wonderful 
promises — What  is  it  to  ask  in  the  name  of  Jesus? — The 
father  of  the  soldier  boy — That  Jesus  may  be  glorified,  not 
that  we  may  be  comforted  or  helped — ^The  name  of  Jesus 
an  all-prevailing  Name. 

V.-^" According  to  His  Will" 105 

Foreword — Entire  yielding  to  God's  Spirit,  otherwise  we 
live  in  the  flesh.  Is  this  the  real  trouble  with  our  prayers? 
— Can  we  know  what  the  will  of  God  is?  Proverbs 
16:3 — What  was  the  trouble  with  Balaam?  He  loved  the 
wages — The  question  of  marriage — A  great  heart-break — 
A  wise  banker — The  peril  of  haste — Herrick  Johnson's 
rule  for  preachers — "If  you  go  slow  enough" — "If  you  go 
fast  enough" — A  new  set  of  nerves. 

VI. — "Without  Faith  It  Is  Impossible  to  Plea5e  Him"  .  .  .115 
Foreword — Tell  God  everything,  give  over  effort,  fall 
helpless  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  trust  Him — Must  believe 
that  He  is — What  is  faith? — Do  we  wish  to  please  God? — 
A  wise  father — Mr.  Moody's  prayer  for  three  thousand 
dollars — The  life  of  trust — Like  a  grain  of  mustard  seed — 
Faith  based  on  acquaintance. 

Vll. — "Always  to  Pray,  and  Not  to  Faint" 135 

Foreword — Redemption  not  piece-meal — The  fullness  of 
grace — Not  to  believe  the  documents;  to  believe  the  Lord — 
Always  pray  and  do  not  faint — God's  resources  infinite — A 
reason  for  delay — Two  drunken  fathers  and  two  praying 
daughters — Sixty-two  years  of  prayer,  men  named  every 
day — Land  now  our  campus  held  for  prayer  six  years — 
Moses'  prayer  for  the  privilege  of  going  into  the  promised 
land,  not  over  Jordan.  Went  by  way  of  heaven — God 
chooses    His   instruments   and   He  chooses   His   methods — 


Getting  Things  From  God 


CHAP.  PAGE 

Ordering  God  a  dangerous  business — The  Garden  prayers 
— Refusing  to  pray  for  a  wife  when  dying — Trusting  God 
before  He  has  spoken. 

PART  THREE 
Why  Does  God  Answer  Prayer? 

I. — ^Because  He  Has  Promised  to  Do  So 139 

Foreword — Andrew  Murray  on  the  sin  of  praj^erless- 
ness — Christians  laughing  about  it — Disobedience  daily 
acknowledged  but  not  ceased  from — No  hope  of  prevailing 
prayer  without  it — God  answers  prayer  because  He  wishes 
to  keep  His  word;  even  a  man  of  honor  does  this — how 
much  more  God  who  cannot  lie? — Men  become  like  their 
gods — Proof  from  reason — Proof  from  history — Thirty 
thousand  promises,  all  good — Contact  with  the  divine  the 
remedy  for  sickness — Two  witnesses — Heaven  and  earth 
will  pass  away;   God's  Word  will  not  pass  away. 

II. — Loving  His  Own,  He  Loved  Them  to  the  End  ....  149 
Foreword — The  time  of  prayer — Many  prevailing  pray- 
ers short — The  prayerful  spirit  continuous — The  all-night 
prayers  of  Christ  and  His  people — Parents  love  the  voices 
of  their  children — When  ye  pray,  say,  "Our  Father" — 
Presents  for  our  friends — God  loves  beautiful  things,  so 
do  His  people — The  happiness  of  a  happy  child — Physical 
ills,  financial  ills,  mental  ills,  social  ills  all  a  burden  to 
the  heart  of  God — No  case  of  evil  recorded  which  was 
beyond  the  power  of  Jesus — Prayer  or  suicide,  which? — 
Home  difficulties — Heart  alienations — Yield  .to  prayer. 

III.— God  Wishes  Us  to  Serve  Others 165 

Foreword — Another  message  from  Andrew  Murray — Do 
we  believe  in  the  fullness  of  Christ  or  only  in  a  part  of 
His  power? — The  attitude  of  attaining  to  happiness — The 
contagion  of  example — Prayer  unlocks  a  door,  prayer  makes 
a  stove  draw;  rather  God  unlocks  doors  and  makes  stoves 
draw  in  answer  to  prayer — Telling  what  God  does  for  us 
encourages  others  to  ask  for  themselves — An  Italian  woman 
in  the  South  Station,  Boston — Dr.  Torrey's  custom  about 
car-seats — Two  seats  for  two  people  on  a  train;  why  not 
three  or  four? — Making  our  boast  in  God,  not  ourselves — 
Wearied,  burdened,  heart-sore  people  while  God  is  full 
and  rich  and  ready — Seventy-five  cents  to  a  poor  woman 
and  child — A  hungry  household — By  love  serve  one  another. 


Contents 


CHAP.  PACE 

IV. — Tapping  the  Infinite  Reservoirs 179 

Foreword — The  Holy  Spirit,  the  Spirit  of  prayer — He  is 
our  Teacher — How  strange  that  prayer  should  be  con- 
sidered a  burden — My  debt  to  Dr.  Amos  R.  Wells — College 
presidents  in  these  days — The  leaf  out  of  our  own  book — 
Enlarged  gifts — Gifts  from  strangers — A  man  sent  from 
God — Should  we  tell  God  and  His  people,  or  tell  God 
alone? — Should  we  ask  of  God  and  His  people,  or  ask 
of  God  ? — Diversities  of  gifts,  one  Spirit — The  general 
plan  of  God  to  employ  human  agency  for  the  accomplish- 
ing of  many  purposes — Pray  as  God  directs,  not  as  someone 
else  does. 

v.— "Know^th  That  Ye  Have  Need  of  These  Things"  .  .  .193 
Foreword — The  spirit  of  sons — Boldness  at  the  throne 
of  grace — Blind,  led — Darkness  made  light — Crooked 
things  straight — Sad  that  we  so  slightly  appreciate  the 
goodness  of  God — The  King  of  heaven  less  highly  esteemed 
by  the  multitude  than  worthless  earthly  kings — The  seen 
temporal,  the  unseen  eternal — No  part  of  our  lives  un- 
important to  God — Complex  beings  have  complex  neces- 
sities— The  privilege  of  talking  definitely  to  God.  We  can 
say  "coal,"  "bread,"  "milk,"  "eggs,"  "snow,"  "ice," 
"storm" — God  knows  what  all  these  words  mean.  Street- 
cars, automobiles,  steam  trains,  reckless  drivers,  fright- 
ened horses — all  these  are  in  God's  Book  and  from  them 
all  He  protects  His  children — In  heaviness  through  mani- 
fold temptation — Sickness  of  the  body — Salvation  to  the 
soul — The  Lord  knows  how — Prayer  for  the  sick — Prayer 
for  rain — With  thanksgiving  and  with  confession — J.  Hud- 
son Taylor  and  the  China  Inland  Mission — Money  for  six 
months  in  advance.    Why? 

VI.— The  "Why^'  of  Christian  Science 209 

Foreword — Evangelist  W.  E.  Biederwolf  on  prayer  in 
the  realm  of  nature;  prayer  in  the  realm  of  mind — The 
power  of  false  faith — Christian  Science — Mohammedanism 
— Mormonism — Pandita  Ramabai —  Universalism  —  Spirit- 
ualism— Action  and  reaction  equal  and  contrary — An  ele- 
ment of  truth  in  our  faiths — Healing  in  answer  to  prayer 
a  commonplace  in  church  life — The  apostolic  church — All 
apostolic  churches — The  Moody  Church — Our  own  church 
— Our  student  body — Sin  makes  sickness,  and  sins  of  the 
flesh  are  especially  fruitful  in  disease — Holiness,  cleanli- 
ness, righteousness  in  general  promote  health. 


10  'Getting  Things  From  Cod 

PART  FOUR 
How  Does  God  Answer  Prayer? 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I. — By  Changing  Those  Who  Pray 219 

Foreword — Another  message  from  Andrew  Murray — 
Death  to  sin  brings  life  to  God — Prayer  a  mental  gym- 
nastic, yes,  but  far  more  than  that — Adoration  uplifts — 
Confession  clears  the  soul  from  the  mist  and  darkness — 
Submission  produces  quiet  and  rest — Petition  a  special  ele- 
ment in  prayer — Some  too  proud  to  ask — Some  not  in 
condition  to  ask — Thanksgiving — "Lord,  teach  us  to  sym- 
pathize."— "Lord,  teach  us  to  be  thankful,  and  teach  us  to 
say  that  we  are  thankful." 

II. — By  Directing  Minds  to  Sources  of  Help 231 

Foreword — Meditate  the  holiness  of  God — Be  often 
alone  with  God — Reckon  on  the  unspeakable  desire  of  His 
love — A  doctor  and  a  sick  little  girl — A  bit  of  roasted 
flour — Should  we  follow  J.  Hudson  Taylor  and  George 
Miiller  as  to  solicitation  for  good  work? — Fields  of  corn 
and  wheat — A  helper  raised  up— No  hope  without  obedi- 
ence— One  power  but  varying  manifestations — God  able  to 
direct  each  man  by  Himself — The  individualizing  love  of 
God. 

III. — By  Changing  the  Order  of  Nature 243 

Foreword — To  understand  grace  we  must  understand 
sin.  This  is  only  by  the  Word  of  God — See  Ararat  and 
Sinai — Doubt  of  God's  power  to  change  the  order  of  nature 
— Atheism — The  virgin  birth — Men  who  doubt  this  should 
doubt  all  the  Bible  except  what  they  can  understand — 
This  miracle  in  principle  not  different  from  any  other — 
No  one  but  an  atheist  doubts  the  power  of  God  to  work 
miracles — He  can,  but  will  He?  He  might,  but  has  He 
done  so?  This  is  a  question  of  evidence,  testimony — How 
to  be  construed — Why  is  some  testimony  to  be  believed  and 
other  testimony  to  be  rejected? — Healing  of  the  sick — 
Sending  of  rain — Reversing  nature  in  any  particular  per- 
fectly easy,  if  God  undertakes  it. 

IV. — ^By  Changing  the  Hearts  of  Men 255 

Foreword — Prayer  a  great  need  of  ihe  preacher — No  pos- 
sible help  without  it — The  work  of  the  Spirit  to  teach 
the  preacher  to  pray — The  conversion  of  a  sinner  a  greater 
marvel  than  a  resurrection  from  the  dead — Can  men  who 
doubt  the  power  of  God  to  raise  a  dead  body,  believe  in 
the  power  of  God  to  change  a  dead  soul  ? — An  abusive 


Contents  IZ 


CHAP.  PAGE 

•  husband  and  his  threatened  wife — Murder  of  the  Bible 
by  the  war  lords — The  natural  result  of  teaching  that  there 
is  no  supernatural — If  no  supernatural,  then  let  us  eat  and 
drink  and  seize  and  kill — The  greedy  church-member  and 
the  heartbroken  missionary — Can  we  change  our  own 
hearts?  If  not,  how  can  we  change  the  hearts  of  others? 
Yet  hearts  need  to  be  changed. 

V. — ^A  Few  Words  at  Parting 265 

Foreword — The  Spirit  prays  for  us;  He  prays  through 
us  or  with  us — After  He  has  taught  us  to  pray  better, 
perhaps  He  does  not  need  to  pray  so  much  in  our  behalf — 
Not  the  end  of  my  subject  but  the  end  of  my  book — How 
little  I  know  of  prayer,  yet  how  unspeakably  thankful  I 
am  for  what  I  know — Do  you,  my  reader,  know  how  to 
pray?  Can  you  grip  the  power  that  lifts  and  helps 
along?  If  not,  why  not  learn  to  pray?  It  is  an  art. — An- 
drew Murray  speaks  of  the  Saviour's  school  of  prayer — A 
feeling  of  despondency  more  contagious  than  presumption, 
yet  God  is  so  merciful,  so  patient,  so  faithful,  so  loving 
— Whosoever  ivill  come,  may  come  and  take  the  Water  of 
Life  freely. 


INTRODUCTORY 

I  SUPPOSE  every  thoughtful  person  from  time  to  time 
takes  up  with  himself  the  question  of  prayer.  It  was 
not  a  good  man  who  said:  "What  profit  should  we 
have,  if  we  pray  unto  him?"  (Job  21:15).  But  it  was  a 
very  natural  question  and  a  thousand  others  than  he  have 
framed  it,  sometimes  in  thought,  and  at  other  times  in 
words.  Tiow  can  God  answer  prayer  if  He  be  all-knowing 
and  all-powerful?  Why  should  a  Being  wlio  could  create 
a  universe  like  this  care  to  listen  to  beings  like  us,  so 
ignorant,  so  short-lived,  so  sinful,  so  helpless? 

Nevertheless,  the  impulse  to  prayer  is  irresistible.  Some 
one  has  said:  "Man  is  incurably  religious;  man  is  in- 
curably prayerful."  I  was  talking  with  a  lad  not  long 
since,  and  asked  him  if  he  prayed.  He  replied :  "Yes,  some- 
times." I  said:  "When  do  you  pray?"  He  said:  "When 
I  get  scared."  He  was  not  peculiar  in  this  respect;  in  a 
c>Tlone  or  in  a  storm  at  sea,  in  a  time  of  deathly  illness 
or  of  financial  disaster,  men  pray, — naturally  they  do  this. 
They  do  not  have  to  be  taught,  they  simply  pray.  Infidels, 
even  those  who  call  themselves  atheists,  when  these  times  of 
stress  and  storm  come  upon  them,  reach  out  into  the  dark 
for  God. 

Does  It  Really  Do  Any  Good? 
Men  pray  without  regard  to  this  question,  but  after  the 
storm  and  stress  have  passed,  the  question  recurs.     It  comes 
to  all  men.     Christians  who  pray  habitually  and  constantly 

23 


j^  Getting  Things  From  God 

from  time  to  time  have  this  question  suggested  to  them: 
"Does  it  really  do  any  good  for  me  to  pray?"  All  sorts  oi 
objections  and  difficulties  are  suggested  to  the  mind. 

My  little  boy,  eleven  years  of  age,  says  to  his  mother 
that  it  does  no  good  to  pray.  He  says,  **I  ask  God  to  make 
me  a  good  boy  and  He  does  not  do  it."  He  has  already 
the  praj^er  problem  ia  its  essence  fully  developed  in  his  ovi^n 
mind.  ,  He  prays,  and  it  does  not  seem  to  him  that  he  re- 
ceives answers.  Of  course,  he  prays  in  his  boy  fashion. 
There  may  be  defects  in  his  prayers, — there  doubtless  are. 
Perhaps  w^hat  he  considers  prayer,  by  and  by  will  not  seem 
to  him  prayer  at  all,  but  today  it  does  seem  to  him  prayer  and 
he  seems  to  get  no  answer. 

Ministers  have  the  same  experience  that  my  boy  has. 
They  tell  us  plainly  that  their  prayers  are  unanswered.  Par- 
ents tell  us  the  same  thing.  They  say  that  they  pray  for 
their  children  and  that  their  prayers  are  not  answered.  Men 
and  women  in  business  life  say  the  same.  All  intelligent 
people,  from  time  to  time,  say:  "Does  it  do  any  good?  If 
it  does  good,  what  good  does  it  do?" 

Of  Making  Many  Books,  There  Is  No  End 

The  subject  upon  which  we  are  thinking  is  like  others 
in  this  respect :  as  there  are  many  books  made  about  econom- 
ics, about  chemistry,  about  the  war  in  Europe,  about  methods 
in  education,  so  there  are  many  books  written  on  prayer. 
Why  should  one  add  to  the  number?  Many  of  these  books 
are  excellent.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  them  is  "The 
Prayer  Life"  by  Andrew  Murray.  He  has  been  my  great 
teacher  in  respect  to  prayer.  I  heard  him  many  years  ago 
at  Northfield  say  repeatedly  to  Mr.  Moody:  "Mr.  Moody, 
there  must  be  more  prayer.    The  speaking  here  is  excellent 


Introductory  15 

but  there  is  too  much  of  It  in  proportion  to  prayer."  We 
do  not  have  time  to  pray.  We  get  tired  when  going  to  meet- 
ings, listening  to  men.  We  must  have  more  time  to  speak 
to  God  and  to  listen  to  Him.  It  was  very  unusual  for  Mr. 
Murray  to  speak  on  any  subject,  so  far  as  my  observation 
went,  without  taking  up  this  subject.  It  burned  in  his  very 
bones,  the  crjang,  absolute  necessity  of  prayer,  if  Christians 
were  to  live  victorious  lives. 

Another  book  on  this  subject  is  by  Dr.  W.  E.  Bieder- 
wolf.  It  is  entitled:  "How  Can  God  Answer  Pra)^er?" 
This  book  also  is  helpful  throughout,  as  one  who  knows  Dr. 
Biederwolf  would  expect  it  to  be.  Another  smaller  work 
than  either  of  these  is  also  most  truly  helpful.  It  is  called 
"Preacher  and  Prayer,"  or  "Power  Through  Prayer."  This 
w^as  written  by  a  brother  with  whom  I  have  had  no  acquaint- 
ance, Rev.  E.  M.  Bounds  of  Washington,  Ga.  In  the  con- 
ferences which  I  have  recently  attended,  this  book  is  one  of 
the  most  useful  and  popular  among  the  students.  I  have 
myself  been  so  helped  and  Impressed  by  It  that  I  have  taken 
the  forewords  for  some  parts  of  the  present!  book  from  Mr. 
Bounds'  work. 

I  do  not  need  to  suggest  the  first  book  on  prayer  which 
I  ever  read,  "The  Silent  Hour,"  by  Prof.  Austin  Phelps. 
It  was  a  classic  when  I  was  a  boy  in  college  and  is  still  one 
of  the  best  treatises  on  the  subject.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  any 
one  of  these  books  which!  I  have  mentioned,  or  of  the  great 
host  that  I  have  not  mentioned,  carefully  studied  and  hon- 
estly followed,  w^ould  multiply  many  fold  the  prayer  power 
of  the  Lord's  people. 

The  most  powerful  series  of  addresses  I  ever  heard  on 
the  subject  were  by  Dr.  R.  A.  Torrey.  I  do  not  remember 
his   title.     I    think   it   was   something  like,    "The   Prayer 


i6  ,  Getting  Things  From  God 

Life  of  Jesus."  It  consisted,  sermon  after  sermon,  of  an 
examination  of  the  method  of  prayer  followed  by  our  Lord. 
It  was  extremely  helpful,  conscience-quickening,  faith-pro- 
voking, inspiring. 

Why,  Then,  Another  Book? 

For  many  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  there  are  a  great 
many  people  in  the  world  who  do  not  know  how  to  pray, 
who  need  to  pray,  who  suffer  because  they  do  not  know 
how.  Many  tens  of  thousands  of  them  have  never  read  the 
books  which  I  have  mentioned,  or  others  on  this  subject. 
Another  book  may  possibly  appeal  to  another  set  of  persons. 
This  is  greatly  to  be  desired,  for  when  all  is  done,  plenty 
will  remain  that  is  not  accomplished. 

Still  further,  the  fact  that  a  number  of  persons  have 
uttered  their  testimony  is  no  reason  why  still  others  should 
not  do  the  same.  Every  man  is  responsible  for  his  own  mes- 
sage; every  man  has  his  own  friends  and  acquaintances,  and 
all  men  who  know  that  God  answers  prayer  have  a  duty 
to  those  who  do  not  know.  The  performance  of  this  duty  is 
an  imperative.  Men  are  not  conscience-free  unless  they  per- 
form it. 

I  have  been  wonderfully  helped  by  the  writers  named. 
I  know  they  have  helped  a  multitude  of  others.  This  makes 
me  a  debtor  to  help  someone  if  I  can  and  I  am  ready  to 
pay  the  debt  as  God  makes  it  possible,  for  /  know  that  God 
answers  prayer,  and  I  desire  to  help  other  people  to  know 
that  He  answers  prayer,  so  that  sick  ones,  tempted  ones,  bur- 
dened ones,  perplexed  ones,  weary  ones,  may  find  the  wis- 
dom and  help,  and  comfort  and  strength  which  have  at  times 
come  to  me  through  prayer. 

If  an  excuse  is  required  for  another  book  on  this  all- 


Introductory  17 

important  subject,  I  think  it  is  found  in  what  I  have  written 
above.  It  is  my  earnest  desire  that  this  book  should  be  of 
service.  As  I  said  in  giving  account  of  another  book*  which 
God  has  made  of  use  to  some  of  His  people,  I  have  no  desire 
to  write  a  learned  book.  I  have  no  desire  to  write  a  large 
book.  My  wish  is  that  God  shall  help  me  to  write  a  book 
of  real  service  to  His  people  and  I  hope  to  put  it  in  form 
where  the  busy  and  the  burdened  may  be  able  to  derive 
benefit  from  it. 


•"Light  on  the  Last  Days,"  published  by  The  Bible  Institute 
Colporta&e  Association,  826  N.  La  Salle  St.,  Chicago.  Paper,  35 
cents  net;  cloth,  75  cents  net. 


PART  ONE 

WHAT  IS  IT  TO  PRAY? 


Chapter  I 
TALKING  WITH  GOD 


FOREWORD 

"His  invitation  met  with  a  hearty  response.  Our  four 
theological  professors,  with  more  than  two  hundred  min- 
isters, missionaries,  and  theological  students  came  together 
with  the  above  words  as  the  keynote  of  our  meeting. 
From  the  very  first  in  the  address,  there  was  the  tone  of 
confession,  as  the  only  way  to  repentance  and  restoration. 
At  a  subsequent  meeting  the  opportunity  was  given  for 
testimony  as  to  what  might  be  the  sins  which  made  the 
life  of  the  church  so  feeble.  Some  began  to  mention  fail- 
ings that  they  had  seen  in  other  ministers,  either  in  con- 
duct, or  in  doctrine,  or  in  service.  It  was  soon  felt  that 
this  was  not  the  right  way;  each  must  acknowledge  that 
in  which  he  himself  was  guilty. 

"The  Lord  graciously  so  ordered  it  that  we  were  gradu- 
ally led  to  the  sin  of  prayerlessness,  as  one  of  the  deep- 
est roots  of  the  evil.  No  one  could  plead  himself  free 
from  this.  Nothing  so  reveals  the  defective  spiritual  life 
in  minister  and  congregation  as  the  lack  of  believing  and 
unceasing  prayer.  Prayer  is  in  very  deed  the  pulse  of  the 
spiritual  life.  It  is  the  great  means  of  bringing  to  min- 
ister and  people  the  blessing  and  power  of  heaven.  Per- 
severing and  believing  prayer  means  a  strong  and  an 
abundant  life." — Andrenjif  Murray. 


CHAPTER  I 
TALKING  WITH  GOD 

IT  is  safe  to  say  that  there  is  no  subject  on  which  per- 
sons think  so  carelessly  as  on  the  subject  of  religious 
faith  and  duty.  No  subject  is  so  important  for  time 
and  for  eternity.  Our  religious  lives  determine  our  social, 
political,  industrial,  commercial,  and  educational  careers. 
There  is  nothing  about  which  we  ought  to  think  so  exactly 
and  carefully  as  the  subject  of  personal  religion.  It  is  safe 
to  say,  however,  that  there  is  no  topic  upon  which  the  aver- 
age man  or  woman  thinks  more  loosely,  negligently,  inex- 
actly, than  this  one.  Jesus  told  men  to  search  the  Scriptures 
(John  5:39).  We  all  know  what  searching  is.  We  have 
searched  rooms,  barns,  bureau  drawers,  desks,  for  valuable 
papers,  agricultural  implements,  articles  of  clothing,  books. 
We  know  how  we  do.  We  search,  but  comparatively  few 
search  the  Scriptures, 

Some  say  they  have  not  time.  Some  give  other  ex- 
cuses and  reasons  for  this  neglect.  When  men  do  not  search 
the  Scriptures,  they  do  not  do  other  things  which  they  ought 
to  do.  How  can  they  even  know  what  God  requires  un- 
less they  search  the  Scriptures?  How  can  they  pray  unless 
they  search  the  Scriptures?  The  result  of  carelessness  in 
I'egard  to  this  matter  is  deplorable  ignorance  on  the  part  of 
multitudes,  even  of  professed  Christians,  as  to  what  prayer 
really  is. 

I  always  shrink  when  I  hear  the  phrase,  "unanswered 
21 


22  Getting  Things  From  God 

prayer,"  for  It  is  a  question  whether  there  is  or  can  be  such 
a  thing.  It  Is  undoubtedly  true  that  multitudes  of  men  do 
what  they  call  praying  and  do  not  derive  benefit  therefrom, 
but  are  the  things  which  go  by  this  name  always  prayer? 

"Lord,  Teach  Us  to  Pray" 
This  was  the  petition  of  disciples  who  came  to  Jesus, 
desiring  that  He  would  aid  them  In  this  matter.  He  did  not 
refuse  the  help  they  asked.  He  told  them  how  to  pray  and 
He  told  them  what  great  things  even  a  small  bit  of  faith 
would  accomplish,  if  they  really  prayed.  "When  you  pray, 
say:  'Our  Father.'"  "If  you  have  faith  like  a  grain  of 
mustard  seed,  you  can  overturn  mountains  or  pluck  up  trees 
by  the  roots."  This  is  the  teaching  of  our  Lord.  It  is 
obvious  that  the  force  which  Is  to  accomplish  such  results 
is  a  world-moving  one.  It  is  not  a  trifling  power,  but  a 
power  that  can  shake  and  destroy  and  build  up. 

Let  usi  therefore  seek  to  know  what  It  is  to  pray.  Let 
us  come  as  the  disciples  did,  asking  the  Lord  to  teach  us  to 
pray,  and  that  Hei  may  teach  us  to  pray,  let  us  ask  Him  to 
teach  us  what  prayer  is. 

Not  a  Form  of  Words 

It  Is  clear  that  simply  repeating  words  is  not  prayer. 
Prayer  utters  itself  In  words  orally,  or  otherwise,  but  utter- 
ing words  is  not  necessarily  prayer.  The  Pharisee  stood  and 
prayed  thus  with  himself.  The  publican  would  not  lift  up 
his  eyes  to  heaven,  but  stood  afar  off,  and  said:  "God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner"  (Luke  18:13).  The  Pharisee 
did  not  pray.  He  made  a  speech  to  God,  a  very  poor  speech 
too,  by  the  way,  one  which  has  come  down  through  the  ages 
as  a  sort  of  monstrosity. 


Talking  With  God  23 

On  the  other  hand,  the  publican  did  pray.  He  received 
answer  to  his  prayer.  He  went  down  to  his  house  justi- 
fied. Even  if  the  Pharisee  had  prayed  in  the  words  of  the 
publican,  he  would  not  really  have  prayed  if  he  had  not 
had  the  spirit  of  the  publican,  for  God  looks  upon  the  hearts 
of  men.  He  cannot  be  deceived  and  He  will  not  be  mocked. 
If  men  repeat  words  to  Him  which  do  not  correspond  to 
heart  attitude,  He  knows  it  and  He  considers  it  an.  insult 
and  an  offense.  He  does  not  answer  such  pretended  prayers 
except  by  judgments. 

What  is  the   Prayer  Attitude? 

It  is  unquestionably  a  childlike  state  of  mind  and  heart. 
"When  ye  pray,  say:  'Our  Father.'"  In  words,  yes,  but 
not  in  words  alone,  for  if  I  say,  "My  father,"  to  a  man  who 
does  not  occupy  that  relation  to  me  and  whom  I  know  not 
to  occupy  that  relation,  it  is  simply  a  sort  of  lie.  I  must, 
then,  when  I  begin  to  pray  occupy  the  child  position.  What 
is  the  heart  attitude  of  a  child  ? 

In  the  first  place,  perhaps  the  attitude  of  loving  con- 
fidence. God  has  given  me  nine  children.  Two  of  them 
are  with  the  Lord,  lovely  children  they  were.  Why  should 
I  say  "were"?  Had  I  been  a  more  obedient  and  humble 
man,  no  doubt  they  would  have  continued  with  me,  but  I 
needed  chastening,  so  they  were  taken  away.  But  when  my 
children  whoi  remain  say,  "My  father,"  they  have  a  perfect 
confidence  that  if  the  thing  which  they  desire  is  within  my 
power  and  judged  to  be  helpful  to  them,  they  will  get  the 
thing  which  they  desire.  They  had  this  confidence  fully 
developed  when  they  v^^ere  just  beginning  to  talk.  It  has  not 
grown  less  as  da3^s  have  gone  on.  They  have  said,  "My 
father,"  and  they  have  felt,  "My  father,"  when  they  said  it. 


24  '      Getting  Things  From  God 

The  Child  Attitude  also  Involves  Submission 
and  Obedience 

A  child  who  IS  not  submissive  and  obedient  is  not  in  any 
real  sense  a  spiritual  child,  but  rather  a  spiritual  rebel.  It 
is  not  difficult  for  one  to  know  whether  he  is  disposed  to  a 
loving  submission  and  a  constant  obedience  or  not.  This 
question  is  simply  a  question  of  fact  and  anyone  who  will 
take  the  time  to  think  it  over  will  know  whether  he  is  at 
heart  a  child  or  a  rebel.  If  he  is  really  a  rebel  it  avails 
nothing  for  himi  to  be  talking  as  if  he  were  a  child.  Grod  is 
not  pleased  with  what  he  says  because  He  knows  what  he 
means.  It  is  an  offense,  not  a  compliment,  not  a  satisfaction, 
to  say:  "My  Father,"  when  in  fact  the  person  has  not  the 
heart  of  a  child. 
"Examine  Yourselves,  V/hether  Ye  Be  in  the  Faith" 

It  is  possible  that  in  years  gone  by,  there  was  too  much 
time  spent  in  what  was  called  "self-examination."  Persons 
became  morbid.  They  dwelt  on  their  own  states  and  atti- 
tudes so  much  that  they  lost  the  sense  of  Grod.  It  is  very 
doubtful  whether  this  is  a  common  feeling  at  the  present 
time.  Personally,  I  am  sure  that  a  larger  measure  of  self- 
examination  would  have  been  very  helpful  to  me,  and  I 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  a  multitude  of  my  brethren 
might  also  have  been  profited  by  the  same  practice. 

I  remember  my  dear  brother,  Henry  L.  Kellogg,  one  of 
the  purest,  sweetest,  truest  men  I  ever  knew,  a  man  to 
whom,  as  it  seems  to  me,  under  God,  I  owe  my  own  salva- 
tion. It  was  his  custom  when  we  were  in  college  to  have 
regular  seasons  for  examining  himself.  I  think  this  was  one 
secret  of  his  spiritual  power  and  of  his  large  usefulness.  I 
believe  that  no  man  can  say,  "My  Father,"  to  God  intelli- 


Talking  With  God  2$ 

gently  and  acceptably,  who  does  not  from  time  to  time  raise 
with  himself  the  question  respecting  the  child  attitude. 

"Except  Ye  Become  as  Little  Children" 

"Ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (Matt. 
18:3).  The  little  child  trusts  and  the  little  child  submits 
and  the  little  child  actively  obeys,  because  the  little  child 
heartily  loves  his  father.  He  comprehends  very  little  of  his 
father's  plans.  Almost  all  he  knows  is  that  his  father  occu- 
pies a  certain  position  or  relation  with  regard  to  him,  and 
his  heart  goes  out  to  his  father  in  a  loving  confidence  that 
ever  leads  to  larger  measures  of  affection  and  service. 

When  we  have  prayed,  or  have  done  the  thing  which  we 
have  called  praying,  what  has  been  our  atttitude  of  mind 
respecting  God?  Have  we  looked  upon  Him  as  a  worthy 
child  looks  upon  a  worthy  parent?  Have  we  seriously 
thought  of  Him  at  all,  or  have  we,  driven  by  some  sense 
of  need  or  some  feeling  of  guilt,  simply  called  because  we 
must  call.  If  so,  then  we  have  not  prayed.  No  matter 
what  we  have  named  the  thing  which  we  have  done,  we  may 
be  sure  that  we  have  not  prayed,  for  prayer,  let  me  repeat 
the  word,  is  a  heart  attitude. 

If  an  earthly  parent  should  be  approached  by  a  child 
with  a  petition  and  should  read  the  heart  of  the  child  and 
see  that  he  did  not  love,  that  he  did  not  trust,  that  he  was 
not  willing  to  obey,  that  he  was  really  in  a  state  of  antag- 
onism, he  would  at  once  feel,  even  before  he  said,  that  he 
could  not  be  on  fatherly  relations  until  the  child  should  come 
into  the  child  attitude. 

Let  me  repeat  once  more:  It  is  entirely  possible  for 
every  one  who  reads  these  words  to  know  whether  he  is  in 
the  child  state  or  not.  If  he  is  not  in  the  child  state,  he  cannot 


26  '     Getting  Things  From  God 

even  begin  to  pray.  He  cannot  say,  "Our  Father,"  and  all 
the  time  which  he  spends  in  pretended  prayer  while  in  this 
rebellious  attitude?  is  worse  than  thrown  away.  "When  ye 
pray,  say:  'Out  Father.'"  If  you  can  truly  say  this,  you 
are  in  a  state  to  begin  your  prayer.  If  you  cannot  truly 
say  this,  you  are  not  in  a  state  to  begin  your  prayer;  so  let 
us  be  sure  in  regard  to  this.  I 

This  is  an  article  of  cardinal  importance.  There  is  no 
progress,  no  beginning,  without  it.  Only  the  child  heart 
can  acceptably  say,  "My  Father,"  and  if  we  have  not  the 
child  heart,  we  are  not  children.  We  may  belong  to  the 
church;  we  may  occupy  official  positions  in  it;  we  may  even 
be  preachers  of  the  gospel,  but  the  Lord  will  say  to  us 
in  the  great  day:  "I  know  you  not  whence  ye  are;  depart 
from  me,  all  ye  workers  of  iniquity"  (Luke  13:27).  "For 
let  not  that  man  think  that  he  shall  receive  anything  of 
the  Lord"  (James  1:7). 


Chapter  II 
WHAT  IS  AN  ANSWER  TO  PRAYER? 


FOREWORD 

'7/  is  the  Cause  of  a  Deficient  Spiritual  Life. — It  is  a 
proof  that,  for  the  most  part,  our  life  is  still  under  the 
power  of  'the  flesh.'  Prayer  is  the  pulse  of  life;  by  it  the 
doctor  can  tell  what  is  the  condition  of  the  heart.  The 
sin  of  prayerlessness  is  a  proof  for  the  ordinary  Christian 
or  minister,  that  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  is  in  deadly 
sickness  and  weakness. 

"Much  is  said,  and  many  complaints  are  made,  about 
the  feebleness  of  the  church  to  fulfill  her  calling,  to  exer- 
cise an  influence  over  her  members,  to  deliver  them  from 
the  power  of  the  world,  and  to  bring  them  to  a  life  of 
holy  consecration  to  God.  Much  is  also  spoken  about  her 
indifference  to  the  millions  of  heathen  whom  Christ  en- 
trusted to  her,  that  she  might  make  known  to  them  His 
love  and  salvation.  What  is  the  reason  why  many  thou- 
sands of  Christian  workers  in  the  world  have  not  a 
greater  influence?  Nothing  save  this — the  prayerlessness 
of  their  service.  In  the  midst  of  all  their  zeal  in  the 
study  and  in  the  work  of  the  church,  of  all  their  faithful- 
ness in  preaching  and  conversation  with  the  people,  they 
lack  that  ceaseless  prayer  which  has  attached  to  it  the 
sure  promise  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  power  from  on  high. 
It  is  nothing  but  the  sin  of  prayerlessness  which  is  the 
cause  of  the  lack  of  a  powerful  spiritual  life !" — Andrew 
Murray. 


CHAPTER  II 
WHAT  IS  AN  ANSWER  TO  PRAYER? 

I  HAVE  repeatedly  heard  beloved  brethren  say  that 
when  God  declined  to  do  the  things  which  His  children 
desired,  the  answer  was  as  real  as  when  He  granted  the 
things  which  they  desired.  The  statement  is  sometimes  made 
in  this  manner:  "God  says  sometimes  'yes'  and  sometimes 
'no.'  'No'  is  as  really  an  answer  as  'yes,'  so  that  prayer  is 
always  answered."  It  has  ever  seemed  to  me  a  cruel  trifling 
w^ith  the  souls  of  men  to  teach  in  this  way.  Of  course, 
f  do  not  mean  to  charge  those  who  thus  speak,  with  inten- 
tional cruelty  or  trifling.  Neverthless,  that  which  they  do 
seems  to  me  a  heart-breaking  piece  of  work. 

Here,  for  example,  is  a  mother  praying  for  the  life  of 
a  child.  She,  as  well  as  she  knows  how,  asks  God  to  spare 
the  life  of  her  child,  but  she  is  not  well  taught  as  to  prayer. 
She  does  not  know  exactly  what  prayer  is.  She  does  not 
know  how  to  pray.  She  has  never  been  taught  how  to 
pray.  In  some  essential  particulars,  her  requests  do  not 
take  the  form  of  acceptable  prayer.  God  cannot  grant  her 
the  thing  that  she  desires  in  consistence  with  His  own  char- 
acter. He  does  not.  Her  child  dies.  She  is  perplexed  and 
distressed.  She  says  to  her  religious  advisor:  "God  does 
not  answer  my  prayer,  has  refused  my  prayer."  He  says: 
"Oh  no,  God  has  not  refused  your  prayer.  He  has  not 
failed  to  answer  your  prayer.     He  has  just  said  'no.'  " 

I  do  not  believe  that  this  teaching  is  true,  and  I  am 
29 


50  '        Getting  Things  From  God 

sure  it  would  not  be  a  comfort  to  a  mother'  whose  heart  lay 
cold  and  heavy  under  the  shadow  of  the  little  grave. 

When  Business  Troubles  Harass 
Here  is  a  man  who  is  in  business  difficulty.  According 
to  his  best  light,  he  prays  for  relief  from  his  financial  em- 
barrassments, but  he  does  not  know  much  about  prayer. 
He  has  not  been  a  praying  man.  He  has  been  a  man  of  the 
world,  though  a  member  of  the  church.  He  has  not  been 
a  student  of  the  Bible.  He  does  not  know  what  it  teaches 
on  the  subject  of  prayer.  He  does  not  know  what  the  con- 
ditions of  acceptable  prayer  are.  Blindly,  ignorantly,  in  a 
heedless  ignorance,  he  thinks  he  prays  to  God  for  relief.  It 
does  not  come.  His  bank  note  goes  to  protest.  His  estate 
is  scattered  to  creditors.  He  becomes  a  bankrupt.  He  says: 
"Why  did  not  God  answer  my  prayer?"  The  fact  may  be 
that  he  has  never  prayed  at  all,  but  his  religious  advisor  says 
to  him :  "God  has  answered  your  prayer,  but  He  answered 
*no.'  "  I  do  not  believe  that  teaching  of  this  kind  is  true. 
I  am-  sure  it  would  not  be  helpful  to  the  afflicted  person. 
He  would  look  upon  this  explanation  as  trifling  with  his  seri- 
ous difficulty.     I  think  he  would  justly  so  regard  it. 

When  the  Tempter  Assails 
Here  is  a  man  who  is  in  sore  temptation.  The  world 
and  the  flesh  and  Satan  combine  to  destroy  him.  Opportun- 
ity coincides  with  inclination  and  he  falls  into  shameful  sin. 
His  name  is  dishonored.  His  family  h  broken  up.  The 
church  of  Christ  suffers.  The  neighborhood  in  which  he 
lives  is  demoralized  by  his  sin.  At  the  time  when  tempta- 
tion was  strong  upon  his  soul,  he  asked  God  toi  deliver  him. 
He  says  he  prayed.     He  thinks  he  did  pray  and   he  says 


What  is  an  Answer  to  Pray  erf  5/ 

that  his  prayer  was  unanswered.  He  believes  that  it  is 
possible  for  men  to  pray  and  not  to  receive  the  thing  that 
they  desire.  He  goes  to  his  religious  advisor,  who  says  to 
him:  "Oh  yes,  brother,  your  prayer  was  answered.  God 
just  said  *no.*  " 

I  do  not  believe  this  teaching  to  be  true  and  I  do  not 
believe  it  to  be  a  comfort  or  help  to  anybody.  I  think  it 
would  tend  to  make  infidels  rather  than  Christians,  for  this 
man  very  likely  was  like  the  one  of  whom  I  spoke  a  moment 
ago,  a  man  who  had  never  prayed  in  his  life,  a  man  who 
had  never  had  the  child  spirit.  He  did  not  love  God  but 
he  loved  things,  loved  to  eat,  loved  to  drink,  loved  to  wear 
g!Ood  clothes,  loved  to  live  in  a  good  house,  bought  these 
things,  gave  his  heart  and  mind  to  them,  read  the  newspa- 
pers and  magazines,  anything  except  the  Bible,  never  searched 
the  Scriptures,  never  knew  what  God  required  o£  men  who 
prayed,  did  not  really  know  how  to  pray,  did  not  pray,  cried 
out  in  the  time  of  stress  as  a  wild  animal  groans  when  caught 
in  a  cyclone,  or  when  he  feels  the  pull  of  the  halter  that  is 
drawing  him  up  to  the  killingl  block.  Why  should  such  an 
one  say  that  God  has  not  answered  his  prayer?  Why  should 
he  be  told  that  God  has  answered  his  prayer  but  has  said 
"no."    The  fact  is,  the  poor  man  has  not  prayed. 

I  do  not  forget  that  God  is  very  patient  with  our  igno- 
rances and  that  where  He  finds  the  heart  right  He  attaches 
small  importance  to  words,  but  He  does  attach  importance 
to  heart  attitude,  li  the  heart  does  not  pray,  the  man  does 
not  pray,  no  matter  what  his  words  may  be  and  we  ought 
not  to  say  to  persons  who  do  not  pray,  have  not  prayed,  do 
not  know  how  to  pray,  that  God  answers  their  prayers  only 
He  answers  "no"  instead  of  "yes." 


S2  '    Getting  Things  From  God 

Let  Us  Pass  to  the  Positive 
An  answer  to  prayer  is  a  granting  of  the  thing  which  a 
child  asks  of  his  heavenly  Father,  according  to  the  directions 
which  his  Father  has  clearly  set  down.  If  a  saint  prays  for 
healing  for  himself  or  his  child  or  his  friend,  and  God  an- 
swers his  prayer,  the  sick  person  will  be  recovered.  If  a 
saint  prays  in  Scriptural  fashion  for  relief  from  financial  dif- 
ficulties, he  will  be  relieved.  If  he  prays  in  Scriptural  fash- 
ion for  victory  over  the  powers  of  evil,  he  will  obtain  vic- 
tory. An  answer  to  prayer  is  a  granting  of  the  thing  de- 
sired. Saying  "no"  to  a  request  is  not  an  answer  to  prayer 
in  any  real,  substantial  meaning  of  the  expression.  When 
God  answers  prayer  He  says  "yes." 

If  men  have  made  many  petitions  which  they  consider 
prayers,  on  which  they  have  not  realized,  the  first  question 
for  them  to  ask  is  whether  or  not  they  have  really  prayed. 
Of  course,  it  would  be  of  help  to  them  to  decide  whether 
or  not  God  always  does  answer  prayer.  I  mean  grant  the 
things  for  which  petition  is  made.  If  He  does  not  do  this, 
if  it  is  true  that  saying  "no"  is  an  answer  to  prayer  in  the 
sense  in  which  ordinary  people  use  the  term,  then  he  need 
not  be  surprised.  If  an  answer  to  prayer  means  the  grant- 
ing of  the  thing  for  which  request  is  made,  then  God  answers 
prayer  or  He  does  not.  If  at  times  He  does  not  answer,  all 
the  sufferer  needs  to  do  is  to  submit  to  the  inevitable.  That 
is  all  he  can  do.  But  if  God  does  not  answer  and  if  there  is 
a  dilHculty  with  himself, — if  his  prayer  is  not  prayer  but  a 
form,  a  pretense,  then  there  may  be  help.  If  he  can  learn 
the  difficulty  and  remove  it,  he  may  receive  the  answer  which 
he  desires. 


What  is  en  Answer  to  Prayer?  53: 

An  Article  of  Standing  or  Falling 
I  believe  the  question  discussed  in  this  chapter  to  be  of 
the  first  importance.  If  this  teaching  is  correct,  then  the 
one  who  has  brought  his  request  and  has  not  received  his 
answer  is  put  upon  an  investigation.  If  answered  prayer  is 
not  prayer  which  produces  the  result  desired,  then  another 
course  is  obviously  called  for.  Whatever  may  be  found  to 
be  true  as  to  this  question  will  determine  the  whole  prayer- 
life  of  the  Christian. 

Let  me  once  more  record  my  conviction  that  answered 
prayer  is  prayer  which  accomplishes  the  results  desired.  To 
say  that  the  answer  may  be  "yes"  or  "no"  and  that  the 
latter  is  as  really  an  answer  as  the  former,  seems  to  me 
trifling  with  the  sore  hearts  and  the  great  needs  of  man. 


Chapter  III 
CAN  A  SINNER  PRAY? 


FOREWORD 

"In  an  elders'  prayer-meeting,  a  brother  put  the  ques- 
tion: 'What,  then,  is  the  cause  of  so  much  prayerlessness? 
Is  it  not  unbelief?' 

"The  answer  was:  'Certainly;  but  then  comes  the 
question — ^What  is  the  cause  of  that  unbelief?'  When  the 
disciples  asked  the  Lord  Jesus:  'Why  could  not  we  cast 
the  devil  out?*  His  answer  was:  'Because  of  your  un- 
belief.' He  went  further,  and  said:  'Howbeit  this  kind 
goeth  not  out  but  by  prayer  and  fasting.'  If  the  life  is 
not  one  of  self-denial— of  fasting — that  is,  letting  the 
world  go;  of  prayer — that  is,  laying  hold  of  heaven, 
faith  cannot  be  exercised.  A  life  lived  according  to  the 
flesh,  and  not  according  to  the  Spirit — it  is  in  this  that 
we  find  the  origin  of  the  prayerlessness  of  which  we 
complain.  As  we  came  out  of  the  meeting  a  brother  said 
to  me:  'That  is  the  whole  difficulty;  we  wish  to  pray  in 
the  Spirit,  and  at  the  same  time  walk  after  the  flesh, 
and  this  is  impossible.' 

"If  one  is  sick  and  desires  healing,  it  is  of  prime  im- 
portance that  the  true  cause  of  the  sickness  be  discovered. 
This  is  always  the  first  step  towards  recovery.  If  the 
particular  cause  is  not  recognized,  and  attention  is  di- 
rected to  subordinate  causes,  or  supposed  but  not.  real 
causes,  healing  is  out  of  the  question.  In  like  manner, 
it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  for  us  to  obtain  a  correct 
insight  into  the  cause  of  the  sad  condition  of  deadness 
and  failure  in  prayer  in  the  inner  chamber,  which  should 
be  such  a  blessed  place  for  us.  Let  us  seek  to  realize 
fully  what  is  the  root  of  this  evil." — Andrew  Murray, 


CHAPTER  III 
CAN  A  SINNER  PRAY? 

WHEN  ye  pray,  say:  "Our  Father."  Of  course,  the 
person  who  honestly  and  sincerely  says,  **Our 
Father,"  is  not  an  unrepentant,  unpardoned  sin- 
ner. The  one  who  can  truly  say,  "My  Father,"  has  passed 
out  from  death  into  life.  There  is  one  petition  which  an 
unsaved  soul  can  really  offer  to  God;  that  petition  is  for 
salvation.  When  it  is  honestly  offered,  the  soul  passes  out 
from  death  into  life. 

A  child  can  ask  his  father  for  anything  in  the  wide 
world,  provided  he  maintains  his  child  heart.  A  rebel  can 
sincerely  ask  for  only  one  thing, — he  can  ask  for  pardon. 
When  he  has  been  pardoned  he  has  of  course  ceased  to  be 
a  rebel  and  has  become  a  good  citizen  in  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Then  he  has  the  right  of  the  citizens  in  that  king- 
dom and  he  can  pray  for  the  things  which  he  desires,  pro- 
vided he  maintains  the  attitude  of  a  good  citizen. 

If  he  should  drop  into  a  non-submissive  state,  he  reas- 
sumes  the  character  of  a  rebel.  If  he  drops  into  the  atti- 
tude of  an  unbelieving  soul,  while  in  that  state,  he  cannot 
say,  "My  Father";  that  Is,  he  cannot  say  it  in  his  heart. 
Of  course  he  can  say  it  with  his  mouth.  If  he  does,  he 
simply  insults  God,  but  having  become  a  child  of  God,  in 
answer  to  the  prayer  for  pardon,  he  then  has  the  right  of 
access  and  he  can  pray.  I  believe  the  question  of  this  chap- 
ter also  to  be  of  life-and-death  importance. 

37 


38  Getting  Things  From  God 

Suppose  that  I  am  a  backslider  and  I  am  not  sorry  fot 
my  backsliding.  I  am  sorry  because  I  am  sick,  or  I  am 
sorry  because  I  need  money,  or  I  am  sorry  because  my  child 
disgraces  me,  or  I  am  sorry  because  I  have  not  a  paying 
position,  or  because  I  am  likely  to  lose  a  paying  position, 
and  without  repentance  for  my  backsliding,  without  confes- 
sion or  promise  of  amendment,  I  come  to  the  place  of  prayer 
and  ask  God  for  healing,  for  money,  for  the  salvation  of  my 
child  so  that  he  may  not  disgrace  me  any  more,  or  any  one 
of  ten  thousand  things,  I  yet  being  a  rebel,  how  can  I  come 
into  court?  My  hands  are  not  clean,  my  heart  Is  not  right. 
I  simply  cannot  say,  "My  Father,"  in  my  heart.  I  am  not 
a  child  of  God  in,  heart  attitude,  and  my  prayer  Is  an  abom- 
ination to  God.  "If  I  regard  Iniquity  In  my  heart,  the 
Lord  will  not  hear  me"  (Psa.  66:18).  I  have  not  the  child 
heart.  If  I  say,  "My  Father,"  I  do  not  think,  "My  Father." 
I  do  not  feel,  "My  Father"  I  do  not  even  will  that  God 
should  be  my  Father.     I  want  some  help. 

What,  Then,  Shall  a  Sinner  Do? 
He  should  cease  to  be  a  sinner.  He  should  pass  into 
the  child  attitude.  When  he  occupies  this  position  he  can 
pray.  To  undertake  prayer  while  in  the  state  of  an  alien,  a 
rebel  and  an  apostate,  is  to  seek  to  mingle  oil  and  water. 
They  do  not  go  together.  They  ought  not  to.  If  God 
should  listen  to  sinners — I  mean  unrepentant  sinners,  rebel- 
lious sinners,  sinners  who  say:  "My  Father,"  Math  their 
mouths  while  they  say:  "Myself,"  "My  family,"  "My  busi- 
ness," with  their  minds.  He  would  be  offering  a  premium 
on  hypocrisy.  This  He  certainly  does  not  do,  will  not  do, 
ought  not  to  do,  but  when  the  sinner  feels  his  sin,  is  sorry 
for  his  sin,  is  ready  to  cease  from  his  sin,  then  God  is  ready 


Can  a  Sinner  Pray?  39 

to  hear,  readj^  to  forgive,  ready  to  receive  into  the  kingdom 
of  His  Son,  ready  to  reinstate  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

Sinners  cannot  pray  for  anything  but  pardon,  honestly 
and  sincerely.  When  they  are  pardoned,  they  can  pray  for 
w^hat  they  will,  provided  they  maintain  the  child  attitude  and 
ask  according  to  the  directions  which  God  has  given  for 
children.  Of  course,  they  can  not,  when  they  are  children, 
ask  as  if  they  v/ere  rebels  or  aliens.  They  must  ask  like 
children.  If  they  are  really  children,  so  far  as  God  gives 
them  light,  they  will  so  ask  and  if  they  so  ask,  then  they 
will  receive  the  things  which  they  desire  of  God. 


Chapter  IV 
DO  CHRISTIANS  ALWAYS  PRAY? 


FOREWORD 

"The  Christian  who  is  still  carnal  has  neither  disposi- 
tion nor  strength  to  follow  after  God.  He  rests  satisfied 
with  the  prayer  of  habit  or  custom;  but  the  glory,  the 
blessedness  of  secret  prayer  is  a  hidden  thing  to  him,  till 
some  day  his  eyes  are  opened,  and  he  begins  to  see  that 
'the  flesh,'  in  its  disposition  to  turn  away  from  God,  is 
the  arch-enemy  which  makes  powerful  prayer  impossible 
for  him. 

"I  had  once  at  a  confsrence  spoken  on  the  subject  of 
prayer,  and  made  use  of  strong  expressions  about  the 
enmity  of  'the  flesh'  as  a  cause  of  prayerlessness.  After 
the  address,  the  minister's  wife  said  that  she  thought  I 
had  spoken  too  strongly.  She  also  had  to  mourn  over 
too  little  desire  for  prayer,  but  she  knew  her  heart  was 
sincerely  set  on  seeking  God.  I  showed  her  what  the 
Word  of  God  said  about  'the  flesh,'  and  that  everything 
which  prevents  the  reception  of  the  Spirit  is  nothing  else 
than  a  secret  work  of  'the  flesh.'  Adam  was  created  to 
have  fellowship  with  God,  and  enjoyed  it  before  his  fall. 
After  the  fall,  however,  there  came  immediately,  a  deep- 
seated  aversion  to  God,  and  he  fled  from  Him.  This 
incurable  aversion  is  the  characteristic  of  the  unregener- 
ate  nature,  and  the  chief  cause  of  our  unwillingness  to 
surrender  ourselves  to  fellowship  with  God  in  prayer. 
The  following  day  she  told  me  that  God  had  opened  her 
eyes;  she  confessed  that  the  enmity  and  unwillingness  of 
'the  flesh'  was  the  hidden  hindrance  in  her  defective 
prayer-life,"— '^«<^rfw  Murray, 


CHAPTER  IV 
DO  CHRISTIANS  ALWAYS  PRAY? 

JESUS  spoke  a  parable  to  His  disciples  to  this  end, 
"that  men  ought  always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint" 
(Luke  18:1).  I  heard  Dr.  Maclaren  in  his  lecture 
room  at  Manchester,  England,  give  an  address  from  the 
text:  "I  had  fainted,  unless  I  had  believed  to  see  the  good- 
ness of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living"  (Psa.  27:13). 
It  was  an  evening  hour.  The  chapel  was  filled  with  peo- 
ple. A  single  gas  jet  was  burning  over  his  head.  This 
furnished  light  enough  to  show  him  to  the  people  and  to 
enable  him  to  read  as  he  went  on  with  his  lecture. 

When  he  came  to  the  end  of  his  address  he  said:  "Breth- 
ren, you  have  fainted.  You  know  that  you  have  fainted  and 
you  will  faint  unless  you  believe  to  see  the  goodness  of  the 
Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living." 

There  are  many  times  in  the  lives  of  Christians  when 
they  do  not  pray.  James  1 :2  is  clear  on  this  point.  The  let- 
ter is  addressed  to  the  people  of  God.  He  says:  "To  the 
twelve  tribes  which  are  scattered  abroad."  He  goes  forward 
to  call  them  brothers.  He  says:  "My  brethren,  count  it  all 
joy  when  ye  fall  into  divers  temptations."  Now,  it  is  these 
people  to  whom  he  says  in  the  fourth  chapter  and  the  second 
verse:  "Ye  lust,  and  have  not:  ye  kill,  and  desire  to  have, 
and  cannot  obtain ;  ye  fight  and  war,  yet  ye  have  not,  because 
ye  ask  not." 

4S 


44  Getting  Things  From  God 

All  "Christians"  Do  Not  Pray 
One  may  say:  "How  can  a  person  be  a  Christian  without 
prayer?"  The  answer  is  easy.  He  cannot  be  such  a  Chris- 
tian as  he  ought  to  be.  He  cannot  be  such  a  Christian  as 
God  desires  him  to  be,  commands  him  to  be.  "But  we  have 
this  treasure  in  earthern  vessels"  (2  Cor.  4:7).  "For  in 
many  things  we  offend  all"  (James  3:2).  If  we  all  lived 
according  to  our  privileges,  we  should  all  live  prayerfully, 
but  we  do  not  all  live  according  to  our  privileges  and  some- 
times Christians  do  not  pray.  James  was  not  writing  to 
heathen.  He  was  not  writing  to  unbelievers.  He  was 
writing  to  his  brothers  in  the  faith  and  he  said  to  them: 
"Ye  have  not,  because  ye  ask  not." 

I  am  satisfied  that  there  is  no  one  thing  which  more 
hinders  Christians  from  obtaining  the  things  which  they 
ought  to  desire,  the  things  which  in  a  way  they  do  desire, 
than  this  difficulty  that  they  do  not  ask.  Why  do  not 
Christians  ask  for  the  things  they  need,  really  ask  in  God's 
way,  according  to  God's  mind,  that  they  may  receive  the 
things  which  they  need?    There  are  many  reasons. 

Often  Times  They  Do  Not  Think 
It  Is  the  natural  impulse  of  the  human  heart  to  strug- 
gle for  the  good  thing  which  it  desires.  This  is  a  part  of 
the  human  constitution  as  received  from  God.  Within 
limits,  it  is  a  correct  impulse.  God  offers  no  premiums  on 
laziness,  but  human  effort  disassociated  from  the  divine  is 
a  poor  thing  and  right  here  is  the  difficulty  with  us  when  we 
do  not  think  to  pray.  A  sincere  Christian  never  sets  up 
a  Declaration  of  Independence  of  God.  He  knows  that 
unless  he  has  help  from  above,  all  his  efforts  will  be  in  vain, 


Do  Christians  Always  Pray?  4$ 

but  it  Is  one  thing  to  know  a  fact  and  a  very  different  thing 
to  have  it  in  mind  and  practically  apply  it  in  our  lives. 

I  have  myself  observed  in  my  own  soul  life  that  often- 
times I  see  clearly  needs,  real  needs,  which  I  am  sure  it  is 
according  to  the  will  of  God  to  supply.  Without  thought 
of  prayer  I  have  undertaken  to  supply  those  needs.  I  have 
not  undertaken  to  supply  them  in  any  illegitimate  way.  I 
have  simply  attempted  to  accomplish  what  needed  to  be 
done.  After  effort,  for  longer  or  shorter  time,  I  have  awak- 
ened to  the  fact  that  I  have  not  prayed ;  that  is,  that  I  have 
not  committed  that  particular  thing  definitely  to  God.  Some- 
times it  has  been  the  need  of  money,  sometimes  the  need  of 
victory  over  temptation,  sometimes  the  salvation  of  other 
persons,  sometimes  the  growth  of  grace  of  Christian  friends, 
and  I  have  found  that  I  have  not  received  because  I  have 
not  asked. 

Faith  Like  a  Grain  of  Mustard  Seed 

Another  reason  why  Christians  do  not  pray  as  they 
ought  is,  because  they  do  not  believe.  That  is,  they  do  not 
believe  that  God  will  give  them  the  things  which  they  de- 
sire. They  believe  that  God  Is  good.  They  believe  that  He 
does  very  many  good  things,  that  He  watches  over  people 
and  cares  for  them,  but  they  do  not  have  faith  for  the  par- 
ticular thing  which  they  desire.  Perhaps  they  have  not 
thought  about  it  In  relation  to  God.  They  have  not 
raised  the  question  whether  or  not  it  is  according  to  His 
will,  have  taken  this  for  granted,  or  have  not  thought  about 
it  at  all.  Perhaps  they  have  really  in  their  minds  doubted 
whether  the  thing  which  they  desire  is  according  to  the  mind 
of  God,  so  In  one  way  or  another,  faith  is  hindered.  There 
is  no  loving  trust  for  the  thing  which  they  desire, 


46  Getting  Things  From  God 

If  you  were  to  stop  them  when  they  were  feeling  their 
need  and  say  to  them:  "Do  you  believe  that  God  will  grant 
you  this  thing?"  If  they  were  to  answer  honestly  they  would 
be  compelled  to  say  *'no"  and  without  explicitly  stating 
the  thing  to  themselves  they  simply  do  not  pray.  They  go 
on  making  such  effort  as  they  can  themselves  employ,  but 
do  not  pray. 

I  have  been  astonished  at  myself  in  this  regard  to  see 
how  many  times  I  have  labored  long  and  earnestly  to  secure 
the  accomplishment  of  results  which  I  believed  to  be  right 
and  which  I  still  believe  to  have  been  right,  without  any 
definite  committal  of  the  affairs  in  question  to  God. 

"While  Thy  Servant  Was  Busy  Here  and  There'* 

Another  reason  why  Christians  do  not  pray,  apart  from 
their  thoughtlessness  and  their  unbelief,  is  the  fact  that  they 
are  themselves  too  busy  about  other  things.  The  Bible  pray- 
ers are  most  of  them  short,  but  it  is  obvious  from  the  life 
stories  of  the  holy  men  who  prayed,  that  they  were  continu- 
ally in  a  state  of  prayer.  No  one  can  doubt  that  Daniel 
in  Babylon  took  some  time  to  pray.  It  is  recorded  of  our 
Lord  that  He  continued  In  prayer  all  night,  and  Paul  speaks 
of  "always  laboring  fervently  for  you  in  prayers"  (Col. 
4:12). 

All  these  expressions  indicate  tim.e.  I  will  not  say  that 
in  every  case  those  who  thus  labored  fervently  and  strove 
earnestly  in  prayer  stood  apart  from  other  activities  while 
they  were  engaged  In  prayer,  but  evidently  they  took  time. 
Their  minds  were  fastened  on  God.  They  looked  to  Him 
as  the  source  of  the  good  things  which  they  desired  so  that 
they  were  in  a  prayerful  state.  No  man,  even  if  he  be  a 
Christian,  should  so  lose  himself  in  the  business  and  pleas- 


Do  Christians  Always  Pray?  47 

ures  of  the  world  that  he  neglects  to  take  time  to  pray; 
time  is  an  indispensable  element  in  the  case.  The  man  who 
will  not  appropriate  it  simply  cannot  pray  and  he  will  not 
have  the  things  which  he  needs,  the  things  which  he  would 
like  to  have,  the  things  which  he  might  have,  because  he  will 
not  take  the  time. 

"But  What  Can  I  Do?" 

"I  am  driven  from  morning  till  night.  I  am  a  busy 
mother.  I  have  four  children  and  no  hired  girl.  There 
are  three  meals  to  be  prepared  each  day  for  six  people. 
There  is  a  washing  to  be  done  fifty-two  times  a  year.  There 
is  ironing  to  be  looked  after.  There  are  clothes  to  be 
mended  and  stockings  to  be  darned.  How  can  I  take  time 
to  pray?"  This  is  a  hard  case.  It  is  not  so  common  as 
it  used  to  be  for  at  the  present  time  much  of  the  work 
which  was  formerly  done  by  mothers,  is  done  by  servants, 
still  there  are  multitudes  of  homes  in  which  the  actual  sit- 
uation is  as  indicated  in  the  above  remark. 

The  mother  is  tied  down  by  tasks  which  are  actually 
crushing  in  their  character.  What  can  the  mother  do?  It 
is  certain  that  if  she  does  not  pray,  she  is  likely  to  be  in  a 
condition  where  she  cannot  do  the  work  which  is  crowding 
upon  her.  Sanitariums  are  ever  enlarging  their  borders. 
Insane  asylums  cannot  keep  pace  with  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation. Women  with  frazzled  nerves  are  about  us  on  every 
side.  They  are  not  all  of  this  working  class,  either.  Some 
of  them  are  the  wealthy  ones  who  spend  their  time  in  vari- 
ous social  duties,  as  they  call  them,  but  who  have  little  or 
no  actual  physical  labor  to  perform  for  their  homes,  yet 
they  are  broken  down  and  the  reason  is,  that  they  are  not 
in  touch  with  God.     They  believe  that  He  is,  they  desire 


^  '    Getting  Things  From  God 

to  belong  to  Him  in  a  sort  of  way,  but  they  do  not  have 
time  to  read  the  Bible.  They  do  not  have  time  to  pray. 
They  do  not  have  time  to  go  to  the  prayer-meeting.  Some 
of  them  have  time  to  attend  card  parties.  Some  of  them 
have  time  to  give  dances  for  their  children.  Some  of  them 
have  time  to  v^itness  exhibits  vi^hich,  when  they  were  young 
and  untainted  by  the  world,  would  have  startled  and  made 
ashamed. 

Some  of  them  have  time  for  dressmakers  who  clothe 
perishing  bodies  in  garments  which  will  not  afford  any 
particular  satisfaction  when  looked  at  from  eternity,  but 
they  do  not  have  time  to  pray.  They  do  not  have  time  for 
the  Bible.  They  do  not  have  time  for  the  assemblies  of 
God's  people.  Perhaps  they  lack  appetite  for  these.  They 
do  not  really  care  for  them.  If  this  is  the  case,  it  is  sad 
to  see. 

A  Coffin  and  a  Hearse 

But  all  of  these  busy  men  and  women  who  have  no  time 
for  God  will,  by  and  by,  have  time  to  be  sick.  Many  of 
them  will  have  time  to  seek  for  health  over  land  and  sea 
without  discovering  it,  and  if  the  Lord  tarry,  all  of  them 
will  take  time  to  be  coffined  and  buried.  Who  gives  us 
time?  Who  knows  how  much  we  are  to  have?  Has  the 
One  who  gives  us  all  the  time  we  are  to  enjoy,  a  claim 
on  any  portion  of  it?  If  we  are  not  acquainted  with  Him, 
will  we  get  on  successfully  in  what  we  do  undertake? 

Ten  thousand  graves,  ten  thousand  prisons,  ten  thousand 
hospitals  for  the  insane,  ten  thousand  sanitariums,  all  make 
the  same  answer.  We  did  not  have  time  for  God,  so  we  had 
to  take  time  for  these. 


Do  Christians  Always  Pray?  4g 

I  Have  the  Children 

It  is  a  melancholy  fact  that  when  people  do  not  have 
time  for  God,  they  frequently  do  not  have  time  for  their 
own  flesh  and  blood.  The  fathers  and  mothers  who  have 
no  time  to  pray,  to  study  God's  Word,  to  worship  with 
God's  people,  seldom  have  time  and  disposition  to  train 
their  children  for  God,  and  when  people  do  not  take  time 
to  train  their  children  for  God,  someone  else  will  take  time 
to  train  their  children  for  other  persons  and  places. 

It  is  said  that  a  little  girl  in  a  worldly  home  was  per- 
mitted at  one  time  to  visit  her  grandfather.  This  was  an 
old-fashioned  Christian  home,  where  each  day  there  was 
time  to  pray,  to  read  the  Bible,  to  sing  Christian  hymns. 
After  a  few  weeks  her  mother  came  to  take  her  home.  The 
little  thing  objected.  She  wished  to  stay  at  her  grandfather's. 
Her  mother  was  mortified  and  somewhat  nettled.  She  said 
to  the  little  child:  "Do  you  not  wish  to  go  home  with 
mother?"  and  the  child  replied:  "Yes,  mamma,  I  would  like 
to  go  home  with  you,  but  you  know  there  is  not  any  God 
at  our  house.  Grandpa  has  a  God  here  at  his  house  and 
I  like  to  stay  where  there  is  a  God." 

Poor  child!  How  perfectly  she  expressed  the  cry  of 
the  child  heart.  These  words,  I  trust,  will  be  read  by 
many  burdened,  worried,  tired  fathers  and  mothers.  Some 
of  them  will  be  distressed  because  of  their  children.  They 
cannot  understand  why  the  children  do  not  do  as  they  de- 
sire. Many  of  them  can  find  the  explanation  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  little  girl.  Have  they  not  been  reared  in  a 
home  where,  so  far  as  external  appearances  are  concerned, 
there  is  no  God,  and  if  they  are  reared  in  such  a  home,  what 
do  the  parents  expect?  There  is  no  satisfaction  for  the 
human  soul  this  side  the  throne  of  God.     Children  feel  this 


50  '     Getting  Things  From  God 

just  as  older  people  do.  Children  cannot  lose  themselves 
so  readily  in  business  and  pleasure.  If  their  parents  will 
show  them  the  way  they  will  gladly  drink  in  the  comforting 
truths  which  God  has  spoken  for  the  help  of  His  people. 
If  the  parents  have  time,  they  will  be  rejoiced  to  see  the 
results  of  their  labors.  If  they  have  no  time,  they  will 
many  of  them  shed  bitter  tears  over  the  results  which  will 
follow  their  neglect. 

Praying  Always  With  All  Prayer 
This  is  the  way  Christians  ought  to  live.  They  should 
pray  always  and  they  should  pray  about  everything, 
about  all  their  physical  needs,  their  eyes,  their  teeth, 
their  lungs,  their  hearts,  rheumatism,  tuberculosis,  head- 
aches, heartaches, — everything.  They  should  pray  for 
their  children,  for  their  bodies,  for  their  minds,  for  their 
hearts.  They  should  pray  for  them  when  they  go  to  the 
city  that  they  may  be  safeguarded  from  trains  and  cars. 
They  should  pray  for  them  when  they  go  to  school,  that  they 
may  be  delivered  from  evil  companions,  that  they  may  be 
helped  in  the  performance  of  their  work. 

There  is  nothing  for  which  Christians  ought  not  to 
pray.  They  should  pray  about  their  occupations.  They 
should  pray  about  the  management  of  their  homes,  about 
their  financial  needs,  about  the  uses  of  the  money  which 
God  gives  them.  There  is  nothing  which  concerns  a  Chris- 
tian which  is  a  matter  of  indifference  to  God.  If  they  do 
not  pray,  they  will  not  have  the  things  which  they  need, 
even  though  they  are  Christians,  and  many  Christians  do 
not  pray  and  few  Christians  pray  for  the  many  things  which 
God  would  gladly  do  for  them.  Jesus  spake  a  parable  to 
them  to  this  end,  "that  men  ought  always  to  pray,  and  not 


Do  Christians  Always  Pray?  5/ 

to  faint"  (Luke  18:1);  "Praying  always  with  all  prayer 
and  supplication  in  the  Spirit"  (Eph.  6:18).  This  should 
be  the  daily  life  of  the  Christian.  When  it  is,  the  life  is 
successful,  beautiful,  glorious.  When  it  is  not,  it  is  limited 
crippled,  confined,  oftentimes  a  life  of  shame  and  terror; 
therefore,  brethren,  let  us  pray,  and  pray  always  and  about 
all  things,  and  prove  God  if  He  is  not  still  as  of  old,  the 
One  who  hears  and  answers  prayer. 


Chapter  V 
THE  SIN  OF  PRAYERLESSNESS 


FOREWORD 

"What  the  church  needs  today  Is  not  more  machinery 
or  better,  not  new  organizations  or  more  and  novel  meth- 
ods, but  men  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  can  use — men  of 
prayer,  men  mighty  In  prayer.  The  Holy  Ghost  does 
not  flow  through  methods,  but  through  men.  He  does 
not  come  on  machinery,  but  on  men.  He  does  not  anoint 
plans,  but  men — men  of  prayer. 

"The  character  as  well  as  the  fortunes  of  the  gospel  is 
committed  to  the  preacher.  He  makes  or  mars  the  mes- 
sage from  God  to  man.  The  preacher  is  the  golden 
pipe  through  which  the  divine  oil  flows.  The  pipe  must 
not  only  be  golden,  but  open  and  flawless,  that  the  oil 
may  have  a  full,  unhindered,  unwasted  flow. 

"The  real  sermon  is  made  In  the  closet.  The  man — 
God's  man — is  made  in  the  closet.  His  life  and  his  pro- 
foundest  convictions  were  born  in  his  secret  communion 
with  God.  The  burdened  and  tearful  agony  of  his  spirit, 
his  weightiest  and  sweetest  messages  were  got  when 
alone  with  God.  Prayer  makes  the  man;  prayer  makes 
the  preacher;  prayer  makes  the  pastor. 

"The  pulpit  of  this  day  is  weak  in  praying.  The  pride 
of  learning  Is  against  the  dependent  humility  of  prayer. 
Prayer  is  with  the  pulpit  too  often  only  official — a  per- 
formance for  the  routine  of  service.  Prayer  is  not  to  the 
modern  pulpit  the  mighty  force  it  was  in  Paul's  life  or 
Paul's  ministry.  Every  preacher  who  does  not  make 
prayer  a  mighty  factor  in  his  own  life  and  ministry  is 
weak  as  a  factor  in  God's  work  and  is  powerless  to 
project  God's  cause  in  this  world." — E.  M.  Bounds. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  SIN  OF  PRAYERLESSNESS 

THIS  is  the  name  of  the  first  chapter  in  Andrew  Mur- 
ray's book,  "The  Prayer  Life."  He  says  that  to  live 
prayerlessly  is  a  dishonor  to  God,  that  it  is  the  cause 
of  deficient  spiritual  life — that  the  church  suffers  dreadful 
losses  as  a  result  of  prayerlessness  in  the  ministry,  and  that 
it  is  impossible  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all  men  unless  this 
sin  is  overcome  and  cast  out.  In  this  chapter  he  tells  how 
a  number  of  Christian  ministers  assembled  in  South  Africa, 
burdened  because  of  the  needs  of  the  church,  and  that  in 
conference  they  concluded  that  the  difficulties  under  which 
they  labored  were  caused  by  the  lack  of  prayer.  There  were 
four  theological  professors  present,  a  number  of  theological 
students,  about  two  hundred  ministers,  and  as  the  meeting 
went  forward  he  reports  that  they  with  one  consent  admitted 
that  prayerlessness  was  the  source  of  the  evils  which  grieved 
them. 

This  led  to  an  annual  meeting  which  lasts  for  ten  days 
and  which  has  been  productive  of  great  good  in  creating 
and  maintaining  spiritual  life  among  the  ministers  and  their 
congregations.  It  is  my  impression  that  prayerlessness  is 
very  seldom  thought  of,  confessed  and  abandoned  as  a  sin. 
To  begin  with,  it  is  an  omission,  not  a  commission,  and  this 
class  of  wrongs  is  naturally  looked  upon  as  less  offensive  to 
God  than  actual  transgressions  of  His  commands. 

Compare  for  a  moment  the  two  divine  words:  *'Thou 
SS 


$6  '         Getting  Things  From  God 

shalt  not  steal"  and  "Pray  without  ceasing."  They  are  in 
the  same  revelation  and  they  are  both  in  the  imperative 
mode.  One  is  a  negative  and  the  other  a  positive.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  the  consciences  of  all  people  who  read  these 
words  would  instantly  condemn  them  if  they  were  to  delib- 
erately take  property  which  did  not  belong  to  them.  It  is 
almost  equally  sure  that  very  few  of  them  would  feel  that 
the  neglect  of  prayer  was  to  be  repented  and  confessed  like 
violation  of  the  eighth  commandment.  Yet  it  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  for  a  Christian  to  fail  to  pray  without  ceasing 
may  do  more  injury  to  men  than  it  would  for  another  man 
to  take  what  did  not  belong  to  him.  We  are  so  prone  to 
read  into  the  Word  of  God  that  which  He  has  not  put 
there. 

He  has  never  told  us  that  certain  commands  are  im- 
portant and  that  others  are  not  so.  When  we  reflect  upon 
His  character  and  our  relations  to  Him,  it  would  seem  to 
be  a  very  dangerous  thing  to  regard  any  of  His  commands 
as  unimportant.  Let  us  therefore  think  upon  this  question 
until  our  minds  are  settled,  and  having  obtained  light,  let  us 
walk  therein. 

Is  It  a  Sin  Not  to  Pray? 

First,  let  us  remember  that  repeating  prayer  words  is 
not  praying,  that  If  we  do  this  without  sincere  heart  desires 
we  are  insulting  God — not  honoring  Him.  Let  us,  in  the 
second  place,  divest  ourselves  of  the  thought  that  what 
others  do  or  what  we  have  been  accustomed  to  doing,  can- 
not be  very  sinful.  There  is  a  paralyzing  power  In  evil 
habit  and  there  is  also  a  paralyzing  power  In  making  men 
our  standards  Instead  of  the  law  of  God. 

Let  us  also  remember  that  it  is  never  impossible  to  do 


The  Sin  of  Prayerlessness  57 

what  God  requires.  I  do  not  say  that  it  is  never  difficult. 
I  do  not  say  that  it  is  never  costly  in  time,  money,  friends, 
ease,  but  I  do  say  that  it  is  never  impossible.  To  hold  and 
teach  that  God  requires  what  man  cannot  do  is  irrationality 
and  a  blasphemy.  God  is  our  Father  and  He  adjusts  all 
His  requirements  to  our  powers.  Where  the  requirement 
is  beyond  our  gifts,  the  gifts  are  increased.  As  someone 
has  said,  "The  commands  of  God  are  always  enablings." 

It  Is  possible  for  us  to  pray  and  it  is  possible  for  us  to 
pray  just  as  God  requires  us  to.  If  we  do  not  do  this,  we 
sin  and  the  sin  will  stand  against  us  until  it  is  repented, 
confessed  and  put  away.  We  are  therefore  not  dealing  with 
a  trifling  matter,  but  with  a  question  which  affects  our 
standing  before  God. 

Trains,  Early  and   Late 

There  is  probably  no  one  fact  In  modern  life  which 
has  more  seriously  Interfered  with  family  prayer  than  the 
early  and  late  trains  which  have  become  necessary  In  view 
of  the  complexity  of  modern  life.  When  men  lived  and 
worked  in  their  homes,  for  themselves,  conditions  were  rad- 
ically different  from  those  which  at  this  time  exist.  Men 
are  now  cogs  In  wheels  and  the  wheel  cannot  turn  If  cogs 
are  absent  or  broken.  The  result  Is  that  In  every  great  city 
In  the  world,  thousands  of  people,  young,  middle-aged  and 
old,  hasten  from  their  homes  in  the  morning  and  return 
to  them  late  at  night.  How  shall  these  persons  share  in  the 
home  prayer  which  used  to  characterize  every  Christian 
household  ?  How  shall  they  even  have  the  time  required  for 
deliberate  and  effective  personal  prayer? 

Along  with  this  difficulty  Is  the  multiplicity  of  enter- 
tainments, meetings,  social  gatherings,  and  the  like,  which 


^8  Getting  Things  From  God 

now  draw  so  largely  on  the  evening  hours.  When  the  day 
is  crowded  and  the  night  is  largely  turned  into  day,  how 
shall  the  soul  quiet  itself  before  God?  How  shall  one  ob- 
tain the  time  which  is  needful  to  successful  prayer? 

Along  with  this  there  is  a  mental  difficulty.  Doubts 
exist  and  add  to  the  helplessness  of  prayer.  Dr.  Bieder- 
wolf's  book  on  the  subject  is  entitled:  **How  Can  God  An- 
swer Prayer?"  Here  is  a  volume  of  two  or  three  hundred 
pages,  intended  to  show  that  it  is  possible  that  God  should 
answer  prayer.  The  very  fact  that  such  a  book  is  writ- 
ten speaks  volumes  as  to  the  mental  condition  of  the  Lord's 
people.  A  question  like  this  would  a  few  years  ago  have 
seemed  as  strange  as  it  would  be  now  to  ask  if  a  hungry 
man  will  eat,  or  a  duck  will  swim. 

When  I  was  a  boy,  I  think  it  is  safe  to  say  that  almost 
everyone,  even  people  who  were  not  Christians  at  all, 
believed  that  God  did  answer  prayer  and  I  question  whether 
even  infidels  would  have  asked  whether  or  not  He  did  so. 
Of  course,  an  atheist  would  look  upon  prayer  to  God  as  an 
absurdity,  but  no  one  who  really  believed  in  a  Creator  of 
the  universe  would  question  His  power  to  grant  a  request 
if  it  were  made. 

A  Spiritual  Gymnastic 
Men,  who  in  our  time  teach  that  God  is  in  some  way 
hampered  by  the  regulations  which  He  has  made  so  that  it  is 
difficult  or  impossible  for  Him  to  answer  prayer,  nevertheless 
hold  that  prayer  may  be  useful.  They  teach  that  God  does 
not  give  the  things  which  are  asked  for  because  request  Is 
made,  but  that  the  mere  effort  to  approach  Him  is  useful — 
that  it  puts  men  into  a  better  state — that  it  awakens  a  sense 
of  dependence  and  gratitude  for  favors  received  In  the  ordi- 


The  Sin  of  Prayerlessness  S9 

nary  course  of  nature, — in  other  words,  that  it  is  valuable 
to  the  person  as  an  exercise,  though  it  has  no  effect  upon 
the  action  of  God. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  are  very  few,  if  any,  persons 
who  at  this  time  or  any  other  have  prayed  because  of  this 
fact  alone. 

That  prayer  does  have  a  helpful  reaction  on  the  human 
spirit  is  unquestionably  true,  but  men  are  not  so  consti- 
tuted that  they  take  either  spiritual,  intellectual  or  physical 
exercise  regularly  and  through  long  periods  of  time  without 
the  expectation  of  some  practical  results.  In  other  words, 
men  wish  to  bring  things  to  pass.  They  wish  to  see  results. 
If  they  ask  men  for  favors,  they  hope  to  obtain  them,  and 
if  they  ask  for  pardon  or  peace,  or  purity,  or  power,  or 
health,  or  life,  or  money,  or  friends,  or  anything  else  from 
God,  they  hope  to  obtain  it  and  if  they  become  satisfied 
that  their  prayers  do  not  result  in  obtaining  the  things  which 
they  seek,  they  v^all  cease  praying. 

The  Sin  of  the  False  Teacher 
If  we  have  not  erred  thus  far  in  this  chapter,  there  are 
two  or  three  things  which  are  settled  and  one  at  least  which 
will  follow.  Since  God  has  commanded  us  to  pray,  we 
ought  to  pray  and  if  we  do  not,  we  sin,  and  if  we  commit 
this  sin,  we  should  repent,  and  confess,  and  reform.  The 
fact  that  there  are  difficulties  in  the  way  is  no  excuse  for 
neglecting  to  do  this,  for  God  knew  all  about  the  difficulties 
when  He  gave  the  commands  and  He  is  quite  able  to  fur- 
nish us  strength  to  overcome  them.  If,  therefore,  by  reason 
of  a  false  philosophy,  or  for  any  other  cause,  men  teach  that 
God  does  not  answer  praj^r,  they  sin  against  the  souls  of 
men.    They  not  only  commit  the  sin  of  prayerlessness  them- 


6o  ,        Getting  Things  From  God 

selves,  but  they  teach  men  to  commit  this  sin.  They  become 
centers  of  evil  influences  w^hich  go  out  in  ever-wridening 
circles,  doing  their  deadly  work  until  God  alone  can  see  the 
shores  upon  which  the  dark  waves  break. 

A  Personal  Question 
Each  one  of  us,  therefore,  should  raise  the  questions: 
Am  I  a  prayerless  man?  Do  I  teach  other  people  to  be 
prayerless?  If  I  am  a  prayerless  man,  am  I  ready  to  admit 
that  I  am  committing  sin  and  am  I  ready  to  cease  from 
this  sin, — to  ask  pardon  for  it?  Let  each  one  of  us  as 
we  reflect  upon  these  weighty  subjects  remember  that  if  we 
know  to  do  good  and  do  not  do  it,  we  commit  sin  (James 
4:17). 


Chapter  Vi 
DIALOGUE  OR  MONOLOGUE? 


FOREWORD 

"Brains  and  nerves  may  serve  the  place  and  feign  the 
work  of  God's  Spirit,  and  by  these  forces  the  letter  may 
glow  and  sparkle  like  an  illuminated  text,  but  this  glow 
and  sparkle  will  be  as  barren  of  life  as  the  field  sown 
with  pearls.  The  death-dealing  element  lies  back  of  the 
words,  back  of  the  sermon,  back  of  the  occasion^  back  of 
the  manner,  back  of  the  action.  The  great  hindrance 
is  in  the  preacher  himself.  He  has  not  in  himself  the 
mighty  life-creating  forces.  There  may  be  no  discount  on 
his  orthodoxy,  honesty,  cleanness,  or  earnestness;  but 
somehow  the  man,  the  inner  man,  in  its  secret  places 
has  never  broken  down  and  surrendered  to  God,  his  inner 
life  is  not  a  great  highway  for  the  transmission  of  God's 
message,  God's  power.  Somehow  self  and  not  God  rules 
in  the  holy  of  holies.  Somewhere,  all  unconscious  to  him- 
self, some  spiritual  non-conductor  has  touched  his  inner 
being,  and  the  divine  current  has  been  arrested.  His 
inner  being  has  never  felt  its  thorough  spiritual  bank- 
ruptcy, its  utter  powerlessness;  he  has  never  learned 
to  cry  out  with  an  ineffable  cry  of  self-despair  and 
self-helplessness  till  God's  power  and  God's  fire 
comes  in  and  fills,  purifies,  empowers.  Self-esteem, 
self-ability  in  some  pernicious  shape  has  defamed  and 
violated  the  temple  which  should  be  held  sacred  for  God. 
Life-giving  preaching  costs  the  preacher  much — death  to 
self,  crucifixion  to  the  world,  the  travail  of  his  own  soul. 
Crucified  preaching  only  can  give  life.  Crucified  preach- 
ing can  come  only  from  a  crucified  man." — E.  M.  Bounds. 


CHAPTER  VI 
DIALOGUE  OR  MONOLOGUE? 

I  WISH  to  spend  a  few  moments  with  you  on  what 
seems  to  me  the  great  privilege  of  prayer.  I  am  sure  that 
prayer  is  answered,  that  we  obtain  a  thousand  good  gifts 
from  God  because  we  ask  for  them,  and  I  am  sure  that 
those  who  fail  to  pray  often  fail  to  receive  good  gifts  which 
they  need,  w^hich  they  wish  and  which  God  desires  to  be- 
stow, but  apart  from  any  individual  result  of  prayer,  there 
is  a  general  blessing  which  is  not  likely  to  be  overestimated, 
which  we  are  in  danger  of  neglecting.  I  speak  of  the  op- 
portunity of  conversation  with  the  Maker  of  the  universe. 
I  heard  Andrew  Murray  say  that  too  many  times  we 
make  prayer  a  monologue  when  it  ought  to  be  a  dialogue. 
"Often,"  he  said,  "we  keep  talking  to  God,  asking  for 
things,  telling  Him  things,  when  He  w^ould  like  to  have 
us  stop  and  give  Him  an  opportunity  to  speak  to  us."  I 
remember  that  he  said  in  this  address,  "Many  times  it  would 
be  well  if,  in  prayer,  we  should  stop  and  say:  'Father,  what 
hast  Thou  to  say  to  Thy  child  ?'  "  I  have  often  done  this 
since  I  heard  Mr.  Murray  make  this  remark,  and  always 
with  profit. 

I  was  impressed  with  the  same  thought  in  the  address 
which  I  heard  George  Miiller  of  Bristol,  England,  give  on 
the  subject  of  securing  texts.  He  said  that  ministers  ought 
to  be  told  what  to  preach  about  just  as  any  messenger  would 
be  given  his  commission  by  the  one  who  sent  him.    He  went 

63 


64  '       Getting  Things  From  God 

on  to  say  that  he  had  for  years  been  accustomed,  when  he 
did  not  know  what  to  preach  about,  to  ask  from  God  and 
to  receive  his  subject  from  Him.  I  may  return  to  this  sub- 
ject hereafter  under  another  title,  but  I  mention  it  here  to 
say  that  Mr.  Miiller  spoke  of  talking  with  God  exactly  as 
we  speak  of  talking  with  one  another.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  conversation  was  just  as  real  in  his  case  as  in  the  case 
of  two  men  who  speak  with  one  another  in  the  house  or  by 
the  way. 

Great  Ones  of  the  Earth 

If  we  were  permitted  a,  familiar  conversation  with  men 
and  women,  distinguished  by  reason  of  excellence  of  char- 
acter or  of  great  achievement,  we  should  consider  it  an  honor 
and  a  privilege.  Suppose  that  Florence  Nightingale  should 
come  to  your  town,  or  the  poet  Longfellow,  or  the  mis- 
sionary Paul,  or  the  statesman  Gladstone.  Suppose  you 
should  be  invited  to  meet  him  at  a  dinner  or  at  a  social 
gathering — to  sit  by  him — to  ask  him  questions  and  to  listen 
to  his  replies.  It  would  be  a  thing  long  remembered  and 
often  rehearsed.  You  would  tell  your  children  and  if  pos- 
sible, your  children's  children  how  you  had  seen  and  spoken 
with  this  distinguished  person. 

But  in  prayer  we  are  not  speaking  to  a  good  person 
merely,  but  to  One  who  has  never  been;  stained  by  even  the 
shadow  of  a  sin, — One  who  has  not  only  great  powers  but 
all  powers, — who  made  the  worlds,  who  made  this  world 
with  all  of  the  beautiful  objects  which  it  contains.  He  is  in 
a  peculiar  relation  to  us,  for  we  have  been  created  in  His 
knage.  We  can  know  and  enjoy,  or  suffer  or  decide,  or 
remember,  or  imagine  as  He  can.  Now,  in  prayer  we^  are 
permitted  conversation  with  this  marvellous  Person.  We 
are  permitted  freely  to  tell  Him  of  everything  which  con- 


Dialogue  or  Monologue?  6$ 

cerns  us.  We  are  permitted  to  ask  from  Him  everything 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  allows  us  to  ask.  We  are  invited, 
commanded,  urged  to  be  free  with  Him. 

In  all  the  record  of  His  dealings  with  men,  there  is 
not  one  instance  in  which  He  found  fault  with  men  for  com- 
ing too  frequently,  for  asking  too  largely.  On  the  other 
hand,  He  at  times  reproved  men  because  they  asked  too  little 
or  because  they  did  not  persevere.  The  whole  spirit  of  Hie 
directions  is,  "Open  thy  mouth  wide,  and  I  will  fill  it" 
(Psa.  81:10).  Is  it  not  strange  that  we  value  so  lightly 
so  great  a  privilege?  Is  it  not  remarkable  that  men  have 
to  be  urged,  argued  with,  entreated  to  appropriate  an  op- 
portunity of  this  kind?  Ofttimes  entertainments  are  given, 
consisting  of  readings  from  the  works  of  great  writers  or 
poets.  Story-tellers,  orators  or  historians  put  before  the  pub- 
lic portions  of  the  work  which  they  have  done,  and  where 
the  men  are  great  and  their  reputations  were  widespread, 
people  flock  in  thousands  to  listen  and  pay  large  sums 
of  money  for  the  privilege,  but  in  prayer  we  are  permitted 
to  speak  in  a  friendly  and  intimate  way  with  the  One  who 
made  these  great  men  and  He  promises  to  tell  us  every^thing 
we  need  to  know,  to  forgive  us  all  our  transgressions,  if 
we  repent  and  believe,  to  give  wisdom  in  every  time  of  per- 
plexity, to  give  strength  for  every  labor  which  we  are  ever 
called  upon  to  perform. 

We  have  the  testimony  of  thousands,  if  we  choose  to 
listen  to  it,  that  more  than  all  that  He  has  promised  He 
performs.  It  is  to  this  conversation  we  are  Invited  when 
we  are  taught  to  pray. 

Enoch  Walked  With  God 
One  of  the  most  delightful  methods  of  holding  conversa- 
tions is  to  make  them  a  part  of  a  friendly  walk.     Speaking 


66  '       Getting  Things  From  God 

of  Enoch's  translation,  some  one  says:  "He  walked  with 
God  habitually,  and  one  day  he  walked  with  Him  so  far 
that  God  said  to  him,  'It  is  not  worth  while  to  go  back. 
Come  home  with  me.'  So  he  walked  on  and  never  returned 
to  earth  again."  It  is  one  of  the  privileges  of  prayer  that 
when  we  are  not  permitted  time  for  deliberation  and  sepa- 
ration we  can  thus  have  these  conversations  with  God  in  the 
midst  of  daily  tasks.  We  can  pray  as  we  walk  to  trains  and 
as  we  return  through  the  streets  at  night  from  our  day  of 
toil.  We  can  lift  our  hearts  to  God  before  a  conversation 
which  is  important  or  in  the  pauses  of  a  conversation  which 
is  going  forward.  We  can  pray  without  ceasing, — that  is 
to  say,  we  can  always  be  in  the  spirit  oi  prayer  and  always 
find  it  easy  to  send  our  hearts  upward  when  the  opportunity 
occurs.  Thus  we  can  walk  and  talk  with  the  Almighty. 
Unless  we  were  assured  of  this  by  God  Himself,  we  could 
not  believe  it  to  be  true,  for  we  are  so  conscious  of  our 
weakness,  of  our  ignorance  and  our  sin,  that  we  should  not 
believe  it  possible  that  God  could  thus  favor  us,  except  that 
He  has  taken  such  pains  to  make  it  sure.  This,  however, 
He  has  done  and  if  we  will,  we  may  talk  with  God.  Let 
us  quietly  wait  before  Him  and  seek  in  some  measure,  at 
least,  to  take  in  this  wonderful  thought,  to  really  under- 
stand as  well  as  we  can  what  it  means,  and  having  so  done, 
let  us  more  faithfully  avail  ourselves  of  this  high  honor  and 
wonderful  privilege. 


PART  TWO 

THE  CONDITIONS  OF 
SUCCESSFUL  PRAYER 


Chapter  I 
SUBMISSION  TO  GOD'S  WILL 


FOREWORD 

"Long,  discursive,  dry,  and  inane  are  the  prayers  in 
many  pulpits.  Without  unction  or  heart,  they  fall  like 
a  killing  frost  on  all  the  graces  of  worship.  Death-deal- 
ing prayers  they  are.  Every  vestige  of  devotion  has  per- 
ished under  their  breath.  The  deader  they  are  the  longer 
they  grow.  A  plea  for  short  praying,  live  praying,  real 
heart  praying,  praying  by  the  Holy  Spirit — direct,  specific, 
ardent,  simple,  unctuous,  in  the  pulpit,  is  in  order.  A 
school  to  teach  preachers  how  to  pray,  as  God  counts 
praying,  would  be  more  beneficial  to  true  piety,  true  wor- 
ship,   and    true    preaching  than    all    theological    schools. 

"Stop!  Pause!  Consider!  Where  are  we?  What  are 
we  doing?  Preaching  to  kill  ?  Praying  to  kill  ?  Praying 
to  God !  the  great  God,  the  Maker  of  all  worlds,  the 
Judge  of  all  men !  What  reverence  !  what  simplicity !  what 
sincerity!  what  truth  in  the  inward  parts  is  demanded! 
How  real  we  must  be!  How  hearty!  Prayer  to  God  the 
noblest  exercise,  the  loftiest  effort  of  man,  the  most  real 
thing!  Shall  we  not  discard  forever  accursed  preaching 
that  kills  and  prayer  that  kills,  and  do  the  real  thing,  the 
mightiest  thing — prayerful  praying,  life-creating  preach- 
ing, bring  the  mightiest  force  to  bear  on  heaven  and 
earth  and  draw  on  God's  exhaustless  and  open  treasury 
for  the  need  and  beggary  of  man?" — E.  M,  Bounds. 


CHAPTER  I 
SUBMISSION  TO  GOD'S  WILL 

t  /  y^"^  MY  Father,  if  this  cup  may  not  pass  away  from 
1  1  me,  except  I  drink  it,  thy  will  be  done"  (Matt. 
^^■^  26:42).  We  are  commanded  to  search  the 
Scriptures.  Of  this  word  I  have  already  spoken,  so  I  merely 
mention  it  here.  To  search  is  carefully  to  investigate  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  what  is  within.  Another  expres- 
sion which  Is  important  In  this  connection  Is  found  In  1 
Corinthians  2:13:  "Comparing  spiritual  things  with  spirit- 
ual." Spiritual  things  are  pre-eminently  revealed  in  the 
Word  of  God.  If  we  compare  spiritual  things  with  spirit- 
ual, we  will  necessarily  compare  scripture  with  scripture. 

Some  persons  who  know  very  little  about  the  Bible  are 
accustomed  to  say  that  It  Is  like  an  old  fiddle — you  can  play 
upon  it  any  tune  you  wish.  By  this  they  mean  to  say  that 
the  teaching  of  the  Bible  is  not  clear — that  It  is  self-con- 
tradictory— that  persons  who  desire  to  know  the  will  of 
God  cannot  ascertain  it  decisively  from  this  Word.  The 
motto  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  Is:  "In  essentials  unity; 
in  non-essentials  liberty;  in  all  things  charlt}%"  This  Is  a 
good  word  and  I  affirm  without  hesitation  that  those  w^ho 
will  search  the  Scriptures  with  this  motto  in  mind  w^ill  be 
surprised  at  the  unity  which  they  will  find  in  the  teaching 
respecting  essentials,  the  liberty  which  they  will  find  Indi- 
cated regarding  non-essentials,  and  the  charity  which  will 

69 


70  '        Getting  Things  From  God 

naturally  fill  their  hearts  respecting  all  things,  but  persons 
who  read  the  Bible  on  narrow  lines  for  the  purpose  of 
proving  some  little  sectarian  proposition  which  they  have 
become  Interested  In,  or  justifying  themselves  In  some  course 
of  action  which  they  desire  to  pursue,  will  give  occasion  for 
the  reproach  which  the  ignorant  objectors  to  the  Bible, 
mentioned  above,  make. 

In  regard  to  prayer,  It  Is  essential,  if  one  wishes  to  know 
how  to  pray,  to  take  not  an  Isolated  text  here  and  there,  but 
to  take  all  scriptures  touching  on  this  subject,  compare 
scripture  with  scripture,  be  willing  to  accept  anything  which 
is  shown  to  be  true,  and  in  this  way  arrive  at  the  method 
of  victorious  praying.  There  are  no  real  contradictions. 
There  Is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  great  and  blessed  harm.ony 
and  "whosoever  will,  come"  may  thus  come  to  the  very  truth 
of  God  respecting  this  great  means  of  joy  and  service. 

In  an  earlier  chapter  I  have  spoken  of  the  child  spirit 
as  a  spirit  of  obedience.  I  desire  In  this  chapter  to  some- 
what extend  this  line  of  remark.  I  do  not  hope  to  make 
this  necessity  more  obvious,  but  perhaps  a  separate  treat- 
ment of  this  Important  subject  will  be  helpful  to  some  believ- 
ers In  attaining  to  this  grace,  which  Is  an  essential  condi- 
dltlon  of  real  prayer. 

"Not  As  I  Will,  but  As  Thou  Wilt" 
Any  man  who  will  reflect  for  even  a  moment  will  see 
that  this  spiritual  attitude  Is  the  only  rational  one,  the  only 
one  which  Is  at  all  likely  to  be  successful.  How  absurd  It 
would  be  for  those  so  Ignorant,  so  sinful  and  helpless  as  we, 
to  come  to  God  with  predeterminations,  to  say  to  Him  In 
heart,  even  If  not  In  words,  "I  desire  this  thing  whether 


Submission  to  God*s  Will  71 

you  see  it  to  be  best  for  me  or  not."  When  one  brings  this 
state  of  mind  clearly  to  the  surface,  it  is  easy  to  see  how 
abhorrent  to  God  it  must  be.  I  do  not  say  that  persons  who 
pray  with  this  spirit  never  receive  the  things  for  which  they 
ask.  At  times  they  do.  The  Word  of  God  says  that  God  gave 
to  His  people  their  request,  but  that  He  sent  leanness  into 
their  soul  (Psa.  106:15),  that  is  to  say.  He  gratified  them 
but  the  very  thing  which  He  gave  them  worked  them  in- 
jury. He  gave  them  their  request,  but  "sent  leanness  into 
their  soul." 

I  remember  to  have  read  of  a  mother  whose  baby  boy 
"was  apparently  dying.  She  was  asking  God  to  spare  the 
life  of  her  child.  God  said  to  her:  "Are  you  sure  that  it 
is  best  for  your  boy  to  live?"  She  replied:  "I  want  him  to 
live  whether  it  is  best  or  not."  He  did  live.  The  disease 
was  checked  from  that  moment,  but  that  mother  lived  to  see 
the  boy  die  at  the  hands  of  the  law,  upon  the  gallowS. 
There  is  no  word  spoken  in  God's  Book  concerning  prayer 
more  true  than  this  one:  "We  know  not  what  we  should 
pray  for"  (Rom.  8:26).  How  can  we  know?  We  do  not 
comprehend  our  own  natures  even.  We  know  nothing  at 
all  of  the  future  with  its  testa  and  needs.  We  know  very 
little  of  the  past.-  We  illy  comprehend  the  present.  How 
is  it  possible  for  us  to  know  what  we  should  ask  for?  The 
fact  is,  a  thoughtful  man  would  in  advance  see  that  his  only 
safety  would  be  to  say  as  Jesus  did:  "Nevertheless  not  my 
will,  but  thine,  be  done"   (Luke  22:42). 

The  Praying  Alphabet 
I   find   that   some   persons   have  not   read   a  little  story 
which  has  been  oftentimes  helpful  to  me.     Though  many 


72  Getting  Things  From  God 

have  doubtless  seen  it,  I  insert  it  for  the  help  of  those  who 
have  not.  The  story  is  that  a  gentleman,  walking  by  one 
of  the  beautiful  hedge-rows  in  England,  saw  a  little  lad  on 
his  knees  and,  pausing  a  moment,  heard  him  repeating  his 
letters :  "A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G."  So  the  little  fellow  went 
clear  through  the  alphabet  and  when  he  had  completed  he 
began  again:  "A,  B,  C,  D,"  etc.,  to  the  end,  and  so  he 
continued  until  he  had  repeated  the  alphabet  perhaps  half  a 
dozen  times,  after  which«  he  said,  "Amen,'*  and  arose.  The 
gentleman,  puzzled,  said  to  the  little  fellow:  "Why,  my 
boy,  what  have  you  been  doing?''  He  replied  :  "I  was  pray- 
ing, sir."  The  gentleman  said:  "Praying?  But  you  were 
only  saying  your  letters  over  and  again."  The  lad  answered  : 
"Yes.  I  don't  know  what  to  ask  for,  nor  how  to  ask,  so 
I  thought  I  would  say  the  letters  to  God  a  good  many 
times  and  ask  Him  to  put  them  together  the  right  way 
Himself." 

"Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  hast  thou 
ordained  strength"  (Psa.  8:2).  It  is  safe  to  say  that  that 
little  fellow,  kneeling  by  the  hedge-row,  knew  more  of 
the  essence  of  prayer  than  many  who  have  taken  all  the 
training  of  the  divinity  schools.  For  when  we  are  willing 
to  say  the  letters  to  God  and  let  Him  put  them  together 
the  way  It  will  be  best  for  us  to  have  them  placed,  He  is 
attracted  by  the  confidence  we  have,  just  as  we  are  attracted 
to  those  who  believe  In  us. 

A  Railroad  Superintendent 
Years  ago  I  "was  giving  a  course  of  three  lectures  on 
secret  societies  Monday  evenings  at  the  Moody  Church  in 
Chicago.    I  delivered  the  first  and  second,  and  on  the  third 


Submission  to  God*s  Will  75 

Monday  evening  went  down  to  my  train.  I  found  that  the 
time  had  been  changed  and  that  there  was  no  train  over 
that  line  until  10  o'clock  at  night.  I  said  to  the  representa- 
tive of  the  road:  "Is  there  no  freight  on  which  I  can  get 
in?"  "No,"  he  said,  "no  freight  train  tonight."  I  said: 
"Could  I  not  go  by  Aurora  and  get  a  train  on  the  Burling- 
ton, or  by  Elgin  and  get  a  train  on  the  Milwaukee?" 
After  studying  the  time  cards  a  while  he  said:  "No,  there 
is  nothing  either  way."  Then,  thinking,  he  said:  "Perhaps, 
if  you  should  go  down  to  West  Chicago  you  might  catch 
a  fast  freight  that  would  take  you  in  in  time."  So  I  stepped 
on  to  a  train  that  was  at  the  station,  and  went  to  West 
Chicago.  I  went  through  the  same  series  of  inquiries  there 
and  received  the  same  replies.  I  finally  said  to  the  agent: 
"What  will  3^ou  charge  me  for  an  engine  to  take  me  into  the 
city?"  He  said:  "We  could  not  send  3'ou  in  on  an  engine, 
but  I  v\all  send  you  in  on  a  car  for  $50." 

I  have  never  been  rich,  and  at  that  time  I  was  particu- 
larly poor,  but  I  knew  that  there  would  be  a  large  audi- 
ence waiting  for  me  in  Chicago,  and  although  I  w^as  not 
paid  for  the  service  and  although  I  had  not  money  to  pay 
for  the  special  train,  I  knew  I  must  go.  So  I  said  to  him: 
"If  you  will  get  the  car  ready,  I  will  be  obliged  to  you 
and  we  will  go  at  once."  In  a  few  moments  the  engine 
with  the  passenger  coach  attached  was  at  the  door  and  in 
due  time  I  was  landed  in  Chicago. 

While  the  engineer  was  bringing  out  the  special,  I  made 
out  an  obligation  to  the  Northwestern  Railway  for  fifty  dol- 
lars. The  agent  said  to  me:  "Perhaps  they  will  not  charge 
as  much  as  this,  but  I  w^ould  not  dare  to  promise  the  service 
for  less."  The  next  morning  I  went  to  the  general  offices 
of  the  Northwestern  Railway  to  see  if  I  could  get  a  reduc- 


74  Getting  Things  From  God 

tion,  for  I  really  did  not  know  how  to  pay  the  sum  for 
which  I  had  obligated  myself.  The  president  was  not  in, 
but  being  also  acquainted  with  Mr.  Whitman,  at  that  time 
general  superintendent;  and  a  courteous  gentleman,  I  went 
into  his  office.  I  stated  the  case  to  him  and  said  to  him  that 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  I  was  rendering  public  service, 
for  which  I  received  no  compensation,  and  in  view  of  the 
further  fact  that  though  I  ought  to  have  known  that  the 
train  time  was  changed,  I  did  not,  and  I  thought  perhaps 
he  would  reduce  the  charge  somewhat. 

He  looked  across)  his  desk  at  me  and  said :  "Well,  Mr. 
Blanchard,  what  would  satisfy  3^ou?"  I  replied:  *1  shall 
be  satisfied  with  whatever  Mr.  Wliitman  says."  He  smiled 
and  replied :  "Well,  I  think  we  will  not  make  any  charge  this 
time."  Of  course,  I  attribute  the  fact  that  his  mind  and  heart 
were  moved  to  this  generous  act  through  the  providence  of 
God,  to  the  action  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  but  so  far  as  my  part 
of  the  transaction  was  concerned,  I  think  that  the  confidence 
which  I  reposed  in  him;,  and  the  willingness  which  I  ex- 
pressed to  be  satisfied  with  whatever  he  should  say,  was 
the  ground  of  his  generous  deed. 

The  fact  is,  God  has  a  right  to  lay  out  our  lives.  He 
has  made  plans  for  them  and  unless  we  resist,  He  will  help 
us  to  live  out  those  plans.  When  we  pray  we  must,  either 
in  words  or  in  heart,  say:  "Nevertheless,  not  as  I  will  but 
as  thou  wilt."  A  stubborn  desire  to  have  our  own  way  about 
anything-  is  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  act  of  prayer. 
Wlicn  we  thus  come  to  God,  no  matter  what  we  imagine 
ourselves  to  be  doing,  no  matter  what  particular  form  of 
words  we  use,  we  are  not  really  praying.  God  does  not 
recognize  our  agt  as  a  pra5^erful  act.  He  is  offended.  He 
may  grant  us  the  things  that  we  desire.    At  times  He  does, 


Submission  to  God's  Will  y$ 

but  always  there  is  a  penalty,  for  it  is  not  possible  that  we 
should  thus  come  to  God  without  purchasing  evil  for  our 
own  lives. 

Another  Great  Teacher 

I  have  spoken  of  a  number  of  my  prayer  teachers,  men 
of  God,  who  have  done  me  good,  have  helped  me  much. 
There  is  another  one  whose  name  I  am  glad  to  record  here 
as  having  been  helpful  to  me  in  this  regard.  I  speak  of  Rev. 
F.  B.  Meyer  of  London,  known  wherever  the  English  lan- 
guage is  spoken,  by  his  wonderful  devotional  books.  I  re- 
member that  he  was  teaching  In  our  seminary  in  Chicago 
at  one  time  and  was,  In  a  simple,  straightforward  way, 
giving  an  account  of  his  own  experience.  He  said  that  at 
one  time  In  his  life  he  was  conscious  of  the  fact  that  he 
was  not  willing  to  live  his  life  according  to  the  plan  of  God. 
He  tried,  as  men  do,  to  make  himself  willing,  and 
failed.  Still  he  found  the  rebellious  spirit  w^ithin  and 
at  last.  In  almost  hopelessness,  he  said:  "Lord,  I  am 
not  willing,  but  I  am  willing  to  be  made  willing  and  3^ou 
can  make  me  willing.  Please  make  me  willing  to  do  Thy 
will." 

Dr.  Meyer*s  testimony  was,  that  this  was  the  prevailing 
prayer,  that  almost  Immediately  he  found  the  hardness  of 
heart  wearing  away,  the  stubborn  -will  yielding,  the  unwill- 
ingness passing  Into  a  cheerful  submission  to  the  plan  of 
God.  Are  you  willing  to  be  made  willing  to  do  the  will  of 
God?  If  you  cannot  honestly  now  from  your  heart  say: 
"Nevertheless  not  my  will,  but  thine,  be  done,"  are  you 
willing  that  God  should  enable  you  to  thus  pray?  Do  you 
desire  that  He  should?  Will  you  ask  Him  so  to  do?  If 
you  do,  In  sincerity,  then  for  His  own  glory  and  for  your 


j6  '    Getting  Things  From  God 

good  and  for  the  help  of  those  whom  you  may  help,  He 
will  make  you  willing  and  even  if  by  nature  your  heart 
is  as  stubborn  and  unyielding  as  a  mule's  He  will  make 
it  like  the  heart  of  a  little  child,  so  that  you  will  be  enabled 
honestly  to  say:  "Our  Father,"  and  to  say  from  time  to  time 
as  occasion  requires:  "Nevertheless  not  my  will,  but  thine, 
be  done," 


Chapter  II 
**WITH  THANKSGIVING" 


FOREWORD 

"The  little  estimate  we  put;  on  prayer  is  evident  from 
the  little  time  we  give  to  it.  The  time  given  to  prayer 
by  the  average  preacher  scarcely  counts  in  the  sum  of  the 
daily  aggregate.  Not  infrequently  the  preacher's  only 
praying  is  by  his  bedside  in  his  nightdress,  ready  for  bed 
and  soon  in  it,  with,  perchance,  the  addition  of  a  few 
hasty  snatches  of  prayer  ere  he  is  dressed  in  the  morn- 
ing. How  feeble,  vain,  and  little  is  such  praying  com- 
pared with  the  time  and  energy  devoted  to  praying  by 
holy  men  in  and  out  of  the  Bible?  How  poor  and  mean 
our  petty,  childish  praying  is  beside  the  habits  of  the  true 
men  of  God  in  all  ages!  To  men  who  think  praying^ 
their  main  business  and  devote  time  to  it  according  to 
this  high  estimate  of  its  importance  does  God  commit  the 
keys  of  his  kingdom,  and  by  them  does  he  work  his 
spiritual  wonders  in  this  world.  Great  praying  is  the 
sign  and  seal  of  God's  great  leaders  and  the  earnest  of 
the  conquering  forces  with  which  God  will  crown  their 
labors. 

"The  preacher  Is  commissioned  to  pray  as  well  as  to 
preach.  His  mission  is  incomplete  if  he  does  not  da 
both  well.  The  preacher  may  speak  with  all  the  elo- 
quence of  men  and  of  angels;  but  unless  he  can  pray 
with  a  faith  which  draws  all  heaven  to  his  aid,  his  preach- 
ing will  be  'as  sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal'  for 
permanent  God-honoring,  soul- saving  uses." — E.  M*. 
Bounds. 


CHAPTER  II 

"WITH  THANKSGIVING" 

^^T^E  anxious  about  nothing,  but  in  everything  by 
mi\     prayer   and   supplication   with   thanksgiving  let 

"^"*^  your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God.  And 
the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understanding,  shall 
garrison  your  hearts  and  minds  through  Christ  Jesus"  (Phil, 
4:6,  7).  I  do  not  believe  there  is  any  sin  more  offensive 
to  Grod,  or  more  common  among  men,  than  the  sin  of  in- 
gratitude. We  do  not  like  it  ourselves  when  we  benefit 
persons,  even  in  a  trifling  way,  if  we  see  clearly  that  they 
have  no  thanksgiving  in  their  hearts.  We  are  not  pleased. 
We  would  really  prefer  that  they  should  be,  not  that  we 
care  for  their  thanks,  not  that  w^e  would  be  encouraged  by 
jheir  gratitude,  but  there  is  a  feeling  of  injustice,  a  sense 
of  meanness  comes  over  us  when  we  see  that  those  whom 
we  have  helped  give  no  thought  to  our  efforts  to  do  them 
good.  God  is  like  ourselves  in  this  respect;  He  has  perhaps 
the  same  feeling  in  greater  measure,  for  He  is  the  author 
not  of  some  good,  but  of  all  good,  not  of  trifling  benefits, 
but  of  life  and  health  and  home  and  friends,  and  a  Saviour, 
and  salvation,  and  keeping, — the  author  of  all  good  gifts. 
**Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift  is  from  above,  and 
Cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights,  with  whom  is  no 
variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turning"    (James  1  :17). 

And  He  says  that  we  are  to  make  our  requests  with 
thanksgiving.     I  believe  I  have  heard  persons  pray  for  for- 

79 


8o  Getting  Things  From  God 

giveness  a  thousand  times  where  I  have  heard  persons  thank 
God  for  forgiveness  once.  My  observation  confirms  the  Bible 
story  that  when  ten  lepers  were  cleansed,  one  turned  back  to 
give  thanks,  while  nine  went  on  their  way.  I  have  many 
a  time  wondered  whether  those  nine  healed  lepers  came 
back  into  leprosy, — ^whether  they  were  healed  at  all.  I 
am  not  sure,  but  I  am  certain  that  if  they  were,  Jesus,  who 
said  with  such  a  sorrowful  tone:  "Where  are  the  nine?" 
was  not  pleased  with  them.  How  could  He  have  been? 
Even  a  man  would  have  been  disgusted. 

The  Confidences  of  Lovers 
A  friend  once  said  to  me:  "I  do  not  like  to  speak  about 
my  relations  to  God  and  I  do  not  like  to  hear  other  people 
talk  about  theirs.  It  seems  to  me  like  the  confidences  be- 
tween lovers,  which  are  not  intended  for  the  public  ear,  but 
belong  to  themselves."  Of  course,  there  are  many  things 
for  which  we  pray  that  it  would  not  be  wise  to  mention 
in  public  assemblies,  but  even  these  might  be  mentioned  in 
a  general  way;  that  is,  if  I  do  not  wish  to  thank  God  in  a 
public  assembly  for  a  definite  answer  to  prayer,  it  is  per- 
fectly easy  for  me  to  say  that  I  have  received  an  answer  and 
that  1  am  grateful.  Thus  I  give  thanks  in  the  congrega- 
tion and  at  the  same  time  I  preserve  the  confidence  of  which 
my  friend  was  speaking. 

I  remember  to  have  heard  a  burdened  woman  in  the 
far  west  of  Kansas  praying.  She  asked  for  a  number  of 
things.  Her  heart  was  very  heavily  laden  and  then  it  was 
that  she  said :  "As  for  things  which  are  between  me 
and  Thee,  I  leave  them  before  Thy  throne."  I  do  not  pro- 
fess to  repeat  her  words  but  I  do  profess  to  repeat  her 
thought.     This  was  the  substance  of  what  she  said.     It 


"With  Thanksgiving"  8r 

seemed  very  beautiful  to  me  then.  It  seems  very  beautiful 
to  me  now.  There  are  certain  church  prayer-meetings 
where  the  voice  of  praise  Is  continually  heard.  I  could  take 
anyone  who  cared  to  go  to  such  prayer  gatherings.  They  are 
unspeakably  delightful, — to  hear  one  thanking  God  for  the 
salvation  of  a  father,  and  another  for  the  salvation  of  a 
husband,  and  a  third  for  the  salvation  of  a  child,  and  a 
fourth  for  the  healing  of  a  sick  one,  and  a  fifth  for  the  sup- 
plying of  a  need,  and  a  sixth  for  the  opening  of  a  door  to 
employment,  and  a  seventh  for  the  safe  return  of  a  friend 
and  so  on.  Such  a  meeting  is  so  different  from  one  where 
the  pastor  gives  a  short  sermon,  then  says  to  the  people: 
"You  are  at  liberty  to  use  the  time,"  and  no  one  responds, 
all  acting  as  though  God  had  not  done  anything  to  make 
them  glad, — the  prayers  in  sombre  tone,  as  though  life  were 
a  burden,  as  If  God  were  dead,  or  dying.  I  do  not  believe 
that  there  Is  anything  which  could  be  done  In  our  prayer- 
meetings  and  church  assemblies  to  quicken  the  fires  of 
divine  life  in  the  souls  of  men  more  than  to  have  an  epidemic 
of  thanksgiving.  Apart,  however,  from  the  particular  bless- 
ing which  I  have  in  mind,  there  is  the  ofher  fact  that  thanks- 
giving is  a  condition  of  answered  prayer.  At  times  persons 
say  to  me: 

"Does  Not  Gk)d  Know  When  I  Am  Thankful?'' 
And  I  reply:  "Certainly.  He  does  and  He  is  glad,  but 
is  that  any  reason  why  you  should  not  do  what  He  has  bid 
you  do?"  I  am  sure  that  between  husbands  and  wives, 
parents  and  children,  this  same  spirit  of  thanksgiving  would 
work  wonderful  changes  If  It  w^re  given  free  play.  There 
are  many  wives  who  seem  to  care  little  about  husbands,  ex- 
cept that  they  pay  their  bills.    They  are  glad  to  live  in  homes 


82  '     Getting  Things  From  God 

which  are  furnished  and  provided  and  if  they  make  any 
remark  about  it  at  all,  it  is  generally  to  speak  of  some  lack, 
something  more  which  the  husband  might  do. 

I  sat  in  a  home  not  a  great  while  ago  and  heard  a 
wife,  who  had  spent  every  dollar  her  husband  could  earn 
for  years,  some  of  it  in  wise  and  some  in  foolish  ways,  make 
a  suggestion  of  this  kind.  Her  husband  was  a  gentleman 
and  made  no  reply,  but  I  watched  his  look  and  I  am  sure 
that  if  his  wife  had  struck  him  across  the  face  with  a  raw- 
hide, he  would  not  have  flinched  in  his  soul  more  than  he 
did. 

I  read  years  ago  of  a  mother  who  had  raised  six  boys 
to  manhood  and  her  work  done,  had  lain  down  to  die.  The 
boys  came  home  to  see  their  mother  and  her  oldest  son, 
a  great,  powerful  man,  knelt  by  her  and,  wiping  the  death- 
dew  from  her  forehead,  said  to  her:  "Mother,  you  have 
always  been  a  good  mother  to  us  boys."  The  tired  woman 
closed  her  eyes  and  great  tears  pushed  out  under  the  lids 
and  ran  down  her  wasted  cheeks.  Then  she  opened  her 
eyes,  looked  searchingly  into  the  face  of  her  son,  and  said: 
*'My  boy,  is  that  really  true?  Do  you  boys  feel  that  way 
about  me?"  He  replied  "Indeed  we  do,  mother.  We  often 
speak  of  what  a  good  mother  you  have  been  to  us."  Again 
she  closed  her  eyes,  and  again  great  tears  ran  down  her  wasted 
cheeks,  and  then  she  opened  her  eyes  and  looked  into  the 
face  of  her  firstborn  and  said  to  him:  "My  boy,  I  prayed 
more  that  I  might  be  a  good  mother  to  you  six  boys  than 
for  anything  else.  I  was  afraid  that  I  should  fail  in  some 
way  to  be  all  that  I  ought  to  you,  and  I  never  knew  whether 
3'ou  boys  thought  I  had  failed  or  not  until  now.  Not  one 
of  you  ever  told  me  I  was  a  good  mother  until  today." 

Was  it  not  an  unspeakable  tragedy  that  the  dear  mother 


"With  Thanksgiving"  8^ 

should  bear  the  six  sons,  should  nurse  them  through  the 
sicknesses  of  babyhood,  should  make  their  clothes  and  wash 
them  and  iron  them,  should  prepare  their  meals  a  thousand 
times  a  year  until  they  were  grown  to  manhood,  should  see 
them,  one  by  one,  move  out  into  the  world,  all  the  while 
wondering  in  her  heart  if  they  thought  she  had  been  a  suc- 
cess as  a  mother,  and  not  one  of  the  six  ever  say,  "You 
have  been  a  good  mother,"  until  she  was  ready  to  die?  They 
were  good  boys,  good  men,  but  they  did  not  express  their 
thanksgivings. 

I  am  sure  that  there  are  good  fathers  and  mothers  by 
tens  of  thousands  who  are  waiting  as  anxiously  to  hear  a 
thankful  word  from  a  son  or  a  daughter  as  that  mother  did, 
and  I  am  sure  that  there  are  children  w^ho  are  waiting  for 
the  commendation  of  a  father  or  a  mother  and  who  will  be 
saved  from  ruin  if  they  get  it,  and  v/ill  perhaps  lose  their 
souls,  will  certainly  lose  their  lives,  if  they  do  not  get  it. 
How  pitiful  it  is  to  hear  parents  or  teachers  always  con- 
demning, criticising,  speaking  in  harsh,  strident  tones,  never 
saying:  "Well  done,  well  done."  It  is  pitiful,  unspeakably 
pitiful.  It  is  the  death  stroke  to  thousands  of  souls  that 
might  be  happy,  of  lives  that  might  be  filled  with  service. 

"With  thanksgiving,"  that  is  the  w^ay  to  make  requests. 
I  am  sure  that  at  times  it  would  be  well  if  we  should  ask 
nothing  of  God  at  all,  but  simply  rehearse  to  Him  His 
mercies,  so  tireless,  so  faithful. 

Counting  Many  Blessings 

I  was  talking  with  a  dear  old  saint  recently  who  was 

on  her  death  bed.   She  was  ninety-five  years  of  age,  or  nearly 

that,  and  had  had  what  the  world  calls  "a  hard  life."     But 

she  said  to  me:  "Mr.  Blanchard,  I  set  out  the  other  day 


S4  Getting  Things  From  God 

to  count  up  the  goodnesses  of  God."  She  said,  *'I  do  not 
know  how  long  I  counted,  but  I  think  I  counted  an  hour, 
and  then  I  found  that  I  had  not  made  a  beginning.  Why, 
I  believe  that  if  I  should  take  a  whole  week  I  could  not 
simply  name  the  goodnesses  of  God  to  me."  I  am  certain 
that  when  she  crossed  into  the  country  where  the  inhabitants 
do  not  say,  "I  am  sick,"  the  praises  of  that  region  were 
native  to  her.  She  did  not  need  to  learn  them.  She  was 
accustomed  to  them,  and  we  ought  to  become  accustomed 
to  them. 

I  suppose  this  book  will  be  read,  in  general,  by  Chris- 
tian people  and  I  do  not  in  any  way  intimate  that  their 
confession  of  Jesus  Christ  is  false  or  untrue,  but  I  feel 
certain  that  no  one  person  will  read  these  words  who  will 
not  find  on  reflection  that  he  is  very  far  short  in  the  matter 
of  thanksgiving,  short  as  regards  God,  short  as  regards  His 
people.  Who  of  us  all  has  expressed  the  thanks  we  ought 
to  have  spoken  to  the  church,  to  the  brave  souls  who  gave 
us  our  civil  and  religious  liberties,  to  those  who  have 
labored,  into  whose  labors  we  have  entered? 

Dear  friends,  let  us  be  more  thankful.  We  shall  find 
that  thanksgiving  is  an  encouragement  to  God  to  bestow  new 
graces  and  gifts  upon  us. 


Chapter  III 

"CONFESS  YOUR  FAULTS  ONE  TO 
ANOTHER,  AND  PRAY" 


FOREWORD 

"Can  ambition,  that  lusts  after  praise  and  place,  preach 
the  gospel  of  Him  who  made  Himself  of  no  reputation 
and  took  on  Him  the  form  of  a  servant?  Can  the  proud, 
the  vain,  the  egotistical  preach  the  gospel  of  Him  who 
w^as  meek  and  lowly?  Can  the  bad-tempered,  passion- 
ate, selfish,  hard,  worldly  man  preach  the  system  which 
teems  with  long-suffering,  self-denial,  tenderness,  which 
imperatively  demands  separation  from  and  crucifixion  to 
the  world?  Can  the  hireling  official,  heartless,  perfunc- 
tory, preach  the  gospel  which  demands  the  Shepherd  to 
give  His  life  for  the  sheep?  Can  the  covetous  man,  who 
counts  salary  and  money,  preach  the  gospel  till  he  has 
cleansed  his  heart  and  can  say  in  the  spirit  of  Christ 
and  Paul  in  the  words  of  Wesley:  'I  count  it  dung  and 
dross;  I  trample  it  under  my  feet;  I  (yet  not  I,  but  the 
grace  of  God  in  me)  esteem  it  just  as  the  mire  of  the 
street,  I  desire  it  not,  I  seek  it  not'?  God's  revelation 
does  not  need  the  light  of  human  genius,  the  polish  and 
strength  of  human  culture,  the  brilliancy  of  human 
thought,  the  force  of  human  brains  to  adorn  or  enforce  it; 
but  it  does  demand  the  simplicity,  the  docility,  humility, 
and  faith  of  a  child's  heart." — E.  M,  Bounds. 


CHAPTER  III 

"CONFESS  YOUR  FAULTS  ONE  TO  ANOTHER, 
AND  PRAY" 

IT^\KE  this  title  from  the  directions  which  the  Holy- 
Spirit  gives  through  James  for  the  care  of  the  sick. 
He  says  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  that  letter,  verses  14 
and  15,  **Is  any  sick  among  you?  let  him  call  for  the  elders 
of  the  church;  and  let  them  pray  over  him,  anointing  him 
with  oil  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  the  prayer  of  faith 
shall  save  the  sick,  and  the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up ;  and  if 
he  have  committed  sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven  him."  I 
have  heard  this  scripture  repeated  all  my  life,  but  I  have 
almost  never  heard  in  public  quotation:  "Confess  your 
faults  one  to  another,  and  pray  one  for  another,  that  ye  may 
be  healed.  The  effectual  fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  man 
availeth  much"   (James  5:16). 

Francis  Murphy  used  to  say:  "The  three  hardest  words 
to  pronounce  in  the  English  language  are,  'I  was  wrong,* 
and  the  next  three  hardest  to  pronounce  are,  'You  were 
right.'  "  Undoubtedly,  IVIr.  Murphy  was  correct.  Honest 
confession  of  faults  is,  if  not  the  most  difficult  thing  that 
Christians  ever  have  to  do,  one  of  the  most  difficult.  Of 
course,  it  is  more  difficult  than  thanksgiving,  though  this, 
as  I  have  just  said,  is  sorely  neglected  by  good  people  even, 
but  the  confession  of  faults  is  harder  to  do. 

Satan  knows  that  if  we  honestly  confess  our  sins,  they 
are  forgiven,  and  he  knows  that  if  we  honestly  confess  them 

87 


88  '      Getting  Things  From  God 

we  cease  from  them  and  therefore  he  fights  every  inch  of 
the  road  that  a  Christian  walks  toward  confession. 

A  Personal  Incident 

I  remember  some  years  ago,  perhaps:  eight  or  ten,  when 
Mrs.  Blanchard  was  quite  sick.  She  ia  a  physician  and  has 
been,  by  the  grace  of  God,  a  very  successful  physician.  I 
have  myself  seen  her,  under  God,  raise  a  young  man  from  the 
very  edge  of  the  grave,  when  the  physician  in  charge  was 
letting  him  die  as  fast  as  he  could.  I  have  never  been  par- 
ticularly disturbed  when  she  has  reported  illness,  thinking 
that  she  knew  what  to  do,  would  do  it,  and  that  shortly 
it  would  pass  away.  I  felt  and  acted  in  this  manner  at 
the  time  of  which  I  am  speaking.  She  took  the  remedies 
which  she  had  given  to  many  others,  but  for  some  reason  they 
produced  no  satisfactory  results.  Days  grew  into  weeks, 
and  weeks  into  months,  and  there  was  no  improvement. 
She  began  to  look  really  haggard  and  sick.  She  said  to  me 
one  day:  "I  do  not  believe  I  shall  be  any  better  unless  I  go 
to  the  hospital  and  have  an  operation."  I  said:  "Very  well," 
and  she  said:  "If  you  will  call  up  the  Presbyterian  Hos- 
pital and  arrange  for  a  room,  I  will  see  Dr.  Sarah  Hackett 
Stevenson  and  ask  her  if  shd  will  operate  on  me."  I  called 
the  hospital  and  arranged  for  the  room.  She  saw  Dr. 
Stevenson,  who  agreed  to  operate. 

We  were  waiting  a  day  or  two,  when  she  said  to  me: 
"I  think  perhaps  I  would  like  to  go  down  to  Detroit  and 
see  Belle  before  I  go  to  the  hospital,  One  cannot  tell  just 
how  soon  one  can  get  out  after  an  operation,"  and  I  said: 
"Yes,  that  is  well.  Go  to  Detroit."  So  she  went  to  De- 
troit and  had  her  visit  with  our  oldest  daughter,  her  hus- 
band and  baby,  and  returned  no  better,  but  rather  worse. 


"Confess  Your  Faults  One  to  Another y  and  Pray**  8g 

At  this  time  It  dawned  on  me  that  I  had  not  in  a  definite 
way  committed  her  to  God.  I  had  not  received  because  I 
had  not  definitely  asked.  So  I  went  to  prayer  and  im- 
mediately the  Holy  Spirit  said  to  me:  "Have  you  con- 
fessed your  faults?"  and,  reflecting,  I  said:  "No,"  and  He 
said:  "You  must  confess  your  faults."  We  were  not  liv- 
ing in  an  unkindly  fashion,  but  there  are  many  things 
in  home  lives  which  are  not  just  as  they  ought  to  be.,  There 
were  some  of  these  things  to  my  account  and  I  acknowledged 
them.  Then  I  went  to  pray,  and  I  said:  "Lord,  you  see 
that  your  child  is  sick.  We  have  been  arranging  for  the 
hospital.  You  know  that  that  takes  time.  It  takes  money. 
It  involves  danger ;  even  the  minor  operations  do  not  always 
result  happily.  You  have  the  powder;  you  can  speak  the 
word,  if  you  will.     Please  help." 

The  next  morning  when  I  looked  across  to  see  her  face, 
It  showed  evident  improvement.  She  was  better  in  appear- 
ance than  she  had  been  for  weeks.  Wlien  she  spoke  she 
said:  "I  feel  differently;  I  have  not  felt  so  well  for  a  long 
time."  So  I  thanked  God,  but  I  did  not  at  that  time  tell 
her  of  my  special  prayer.  Again,  however,  I  asked  God  to 
perfect  the  work  —  to  drive  away  the  disease  and  make  her 
well.  The  second  morning  she  looked  like  a  young  woman, 
though  she  was  about  50  years  of  age  at  that  time.  That 
disease  left  her  as  if  it  were  a  bird  and  had  wrings.  It  has 
never  come  near  her  since.  She  has  had  other  ailments  of 
one  kind  and  another,  but  that  particular  disease  has  gone 
away.  We  do  not  know  that  It  will  ever  come  back.  We 
have  no  desire  to  see  It  again.  Some  wise  men  tell  me  that 
her  time  had  not  come,  that  she  would  have  recovered  with- 
out prayer.  I  will  not  say  that  this  Is  not  true,  for  I  am 
not  a  prophet;  I  am  a  witness. 


gu  Getting  Things  From  God 

I  know  that  there  was  no  improvement  before  the  con- 
fession and  prayer.  I  know  that  there  was  a  steady  increase 
in  unfavorable  conditions.  I  know  that  although  she  is  a 
physician  and  is  not  given  to  special  alarms,  she  felt  afraid 
about  herself,  and  I  know  that  after  I  confessed  my  faults 
and  prayed  for  her,  God  healed  her,  and  so  far  as  that 
trouble  is  concerned,  she  has  been  well  ever  since. 

Only  a  Testimony 
I  hesitated  whether  to  narrate  this  story  in  the  first  per- 
son or  not.  On  some  accounts  I  should  have  preferred  not 
to  do  so,  but  a  witness  has  to  say  *'I."  No  court  cares  to 
hear  him  say  "you"  or  "them."  He  must  say  "I,"  so  on 
reflection  I  have  given  my  testimony  as  it  lies  in  my  mind, 
and  it  is  a  true  testimony.  One  may  say  to  me:  "Has  death 
never  entered  your  home?"  Yes,  it  has.  "Did  you  confess 
your  faults  and  pray  then?"  Not  in  a  faithful  manner.  If 
I  had  done  so  I  am  free  to  say  today  that  I  believe  I  could 
have  been  spared  the  fierce  trials  that  did  come  to  me  years 
before,  but  I  do  not  give  the  testimony  because  I  think  I  am 
qualified  to  give  instructions  to  other  people, — I  give  my 
testimony  as  it  occurred  and  largely  because  of  my  own  pre- 
vious failures,  for  some  of  my  brethren  feel,  as  I  did,  and 
if  God  would  help  them  to  do  thorough  work  in  this 
manner,  as  on  this  particular^  occasion  He  enabled  me,  I 
believe  they  would  find,  as  I  did,  that  when  we  confess  our 
sins,  God  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  them,  and  that  if 
we  confess  our  faults  one  to  another,  and  pray  one  for  an- 
other, healing  will  come  into  our  homes.  I  do  not  happen 
to  have  had  in  my  personal  experience  knowledge  of  similar 
instances  in  the  lives  of  others.  I  hope  there  are  very  few 
who  need  to  make  confessions  before  they  pray  for  the  sick, 


"Confess  Your  Faults  One  to  Another ,  and  Pray**  gi 

but  evidently  some  do  or  else  James  5:16  would  never  have 
been  written.  The  Holy  Spirit  says:  "Confessi  your  faults 
one  to  another,  and  pray  one  for  another." 

Of  course  some  people  need  to  do  this  or  there  would  be 
no  such  injunction.  I  needed  to  do  it.  I  needed  to  have 
done  it  long  before  I  did.  If  I  had  done  it  earlier,  it  would 
have  saved  me  much,  but  I  am'  glad  I  learned  the  lesson  at 
last  and  that  God  helped  me  on  that  particular  occasion  to 
triumph  through  His  grace.  If  I  have  need  I  hope  to  tri- 
umph again,  and  if  these  words  are  read  by  someone  who 
has  a  like  need,  I  pray  that  God  will  enable  him  to  triumph. 

Perhaps  this  will  be  as  good  a  place  as  any  for  me  to 
speak  a  little  further  respecting  prayer  for  the  sick,  for  I 
have,  by  God's  grace,  been  enabled  to  see  a  number  of  cases 
where  death  seemed  close  at  hand  and  where  prayer  to  God 
drove  it  away. 

Gifts  of  Healing 

The  Bible  clearly  intimates  that  God  bestows  upon  cer- 
tain persons  what  are  called  "gifts  of  healing,"  upon  others 
"pastoral  gifts,"  upon  others  "teaching  gifts,"  etc.  I  was 
made  teacher,  though  certain  other  gifts  in  smaller  measures 
have  been  bestowed  upon  me.  I  never  had  nor  aspired  to 
gifts  of  healing,  but  I  have  desired  to  be  helpful  to  sick  and 
burdened  people  and  I  have  at  times  prayed  for  them.  No 
doubt  many  others  did  also,  and  I  have  seen  most  remark- 
able healings.  For  the  encouragement  of  those  who  are 
called  to  pray  for  the  sick,  I  would  like  to  be  helpful  to 
them  and  I  will  mention  another  instance. 

I  came  into  my  office  one  morning  to  begin  my  day's 
work,  and  just  as  I  was  about  to  take  it  up  a  lady,  very 
much  excited,  came  in  and  said  that  I  was  desired  to  go 
and  pray  in  a  home  where  a  child  was  dying.    I  said  to  her: 


g2  '     Getting  Things  From  God 

"It  is  impossible  for  me  to  go  at  this  time,  but  I  will  send  a 
brother  who  can  do  so,"  and  I  asked  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hall, 
at  that  time  the  assistant  pastor  of  our  church,  a  man  of 
faith  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  go  in  my  stead.  He  did  so, 
but  returned  after  a  time,  saying  that  the  family  would  be 
glad  if  I  would  come  to  the  house.  I  wxnt,  stopping  at  our 
home  on  the  way  and  taking  Mrs.  Blanchard  with  me. 

A  gentleman  opened  the  door  of  the  house,  and  as  he 
did  so  I  said  to  him:  "Are  you  the  father  of  this  child 
who  is  so  ill?"  He  said:  "Yes."  I  said  to  him:  "Well,  are 
you  a  Christian  man?"  He  said  to  me:  "Mr.  Blanchard, 
I  am  a  traveling  man.  You  know  how  hard  it  is  for  a  trav- 
eling man  to  be  a  Christian,  but  I  do  believe  in  God  and 
I  do  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  and  I  try  to  be  a  Christian." 
I  went  on  to  the  lounge  where  his  wife  was  lying,  herself 
just  out  of  the  hospital  and  very  frail.  She  held  my  hand 
convulsively  and  sobbed  bitterly  as  she  said :  "Mr.  Blanchard, 
I  say,  'Thy  will  be  done.'  You  know  how  hard  it  is  to  say, 
'Thy  will  be  done,'  but  I  say:  'Thy  will  be  done.'  " 

I  went  on  into  the  next  room.  The  little  babe  was 
lying  on  a  pillow  held  in  the  lap  of  a  neighbor.  The  doctor 
who  had  been  attending  him  was  sitting  before  him,  his 
elbow  on  his  knee,  his  chin  resting  in  his  hand,  waiting  to 
see  the  end.  Already  they  had  telephoned  the  nurse  that  It 
was  unnecessary  for  her  to  come,  that  the  baby  was  prac- 
tically dead  and  she  would  be  of  no  service.  It  was  Im- 
possible for  me  to  see  a  sign  of  life  In  the  child.  There 
was  not  a  trace  of  color.  I  could  not  see  the  slightest 
movement  of  the  lungs.  If  the  child  had  been  In  a  coffin, 
no  one  would  have  objected  to  burial  from  anything  which 
was  obvious.  But  we  pray€d  for  the  little  fellow,  and  as  I 
went  back  I  said  to  the  mother:     "I  think  that  God  will 


'''Confess  Your  Faults  One  to  Another y  and  Pray"  pj 

give  you  back  your  baby."  At  5  o'clock  that  evening  I 
telephoned  the  house  to  know  how  the  little  one  was  getting 
on.  The  person  who  answered  the  phone  said:  "Baby  is 
sleeping  quietly.  The  pink  has  come  back  into  his  cheeks. 
We  think  he  is  getting  well."  Three  days  later,  as  I  was 
about  to  leave  town,  I  phoned  the  house  and  the  mother 
answered  the  phone.  I  said:  "How  is  baby?"  She  said: 
"He  is  very  well, — getting  on  nicely,"  and  then  she 
added:  "People  used  to  tell  me  that  God  does  not  work 
miracles  in  these  days,  but  I  know  He  does.  He  has  worked 
one  in  this  house." 

I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  what  she  said  was  lit- 
erally true.  Of  course  God  works  miracles.  The  springtime 
is  an  uncounted  host  of  miracles.  We  should  be  speechless 
with  wonder,  were  it,  not  that  we  are  so  accustomed  to  ft. 
[I  have  recorded  a  number  of  the  things  which  I  have  put 
into  this  book,  in  "The  Christian  Endeavor  World,"  edited 
by  my  great  friend,  Dr.  Amos  R.  Wells.  When  I  planned 
this  book  I  asked  him  if  I  might  repeat  stories  which  he  had 
given  to  the  great  audiences  which  he  addresses,  and,  as  he 
is  accustomed,  he  generously  replied :  "Of  course."] 

I  cannot  remember  just  where  I  have  printed  this  story 
which  I  am  about  to  relate  in  this  more  permanent  form.  I 
know  that  I  gave  it  to  the  readers  of  "The  Evangelical 
Christian,"  of  Toronto,  Canada,  edited  by  my  dear  friend, 
Rev.  R.  V.  Bingham,  Secretary  of  the  Sudan  Mission,  and 
very  likely  it  has  gotten  before  other  audiences  as  well,  but 
it  is  a  most  remarkable  story.  It  came  at  first  hand  and  it 
is  an  encouragement  to  men  to  pray.  It  does  not  belong  more 
properly  in  this  chapter  than  in  several  others,  but  as  I  am 
speaking  of  healing,  though  this  particular  case  is  not  con- 
nected with  the  duty  of  confession,  I  will  record  it  here. 


g4  Getting  Things  From  God 

A  Railroad  Engineer  Testifies 
I  was  a  few  weeks  ago  in  the  Eighth  Avenue  Mission  in 
New  York.  On  the  platform  by  me  sat  a  gentleman,  to 
whom  I  was  introduced,  but  whom  I  had  never  before  seen. 
When  the  meeting  had  progressed  for  an  hour  or  so,  Miss 
Wray,  the  superintendent,  called  upon  him  for  a  testimony. 
He  said:  "Friends,  about  two  and  a  half  or  three  years 
ago  I  was  in  the  hospital  in  Philadelphia.  I  was  an  en- 
gineer on  the  Pennsylvania  Lines,  and  although  I  had  a 
praying  wife,  I  had  all  my  life  been  a  sinful  man.  At  this 
time  I  was  very  ill.  I  became  greatly  wasted.  I  weighed 
less  than,  one  hundred  pounds.  Finally  the  doctor  who  was 
attending  me  said  to  my  wife  that  I  was  dead,  but  she  said : 
*No,  he  is  not  dead.  He  cannot  be  dead.  I  have  prayed 
for  him  for  twenty-seven  years  and  God  has  promised  me 
that  he  should  be  saved.  Do  j'ou  think  God  would  let  him 
die  now  after  I  have  prayed  twenty-seven  years  and  God 
has  promised,  and  he  is  not  saved?'  'Well,'  the  doctor  re- 
plied, *I  do  not  know  anj^thing  about  that,  but  I  know  that 
he  is  dead.'  "  And  the  screen  was  drawn  around  the  cot, 
which  in  the  hospital  separates  between  the  living  and  the  dead. 
"To  satisfy  my  wife,  other  physicians  were  brought,  one 
after  another,  until  seven  were  about  the  cot,  and  each  one 
of  them  as  he  came  up  and  made  the  examination  confirmed 
the  testimony  of  all  who  had  preceded.  The  seven  doctors 
said  that  I  w^as  dead.  Meanwhile  my  wife  was  kneeling 
by  the  side  of  my  cot,  insisting  that  I  was  not  dead, — that  if 
I  were  dead  God  would  bring  me  back,  for  He  had  prom- 
ised her  that  I  should  be  saved  and  I  was  not  yet  saved.  By 
and  by  her  knees  began  to  pain  her,  kneeling  on  the  hard 
hospital  floor.  She  asked  the  nurse  for  a  pillow  and  the 
nurse  brought  her  a  pillow  upon  w^hich  she  kneeled.     One 


"Confess  Your  Faults  One  to  Another,  and  Pray"  95 

hour,  two  hours,  three  hours  passed.  The  screen  still  stood 
by  the  cot.  .  I  was  lying  there  still,  apparently  dead.  Four 
hours,  five  hours,  six  hours,  seven  hours,  thirteen  hours 
passed,  and  all  this  while  my  wife  was  kneeling  by  the  cot- 
side,  and  when  people  remonstrated  and  wished  her  to  go 
away  she  said:  'No,  he  has  to  be  saved.  God  will  bring 
him  back  if  he  is  dead.  He  is  not  dead.  He  cannot  die  un- 
til he  is  saved.* 

"At  the  end  of  thirteen  hours  I  opened  my  eyes,  and  she 
said:  'What  do  you  wish,  my  dear?'  And  I  said:  *I  wish 
to  go  home,'  and  she  said:  'You  shall  go  home.'  But  w^hen 
she  proposed  it,  the  doctors  raised  their  hands  in  horror. 
They  said,  'Why,  it  v/ill  kill  him.  It  will  be  suicide.'  She 
said:  'You  have  had  your  turn.  You  said  he  was  dead 
already.     I  am  going  to  take  him  home.' 

"I  weigh  now  246  pounds.  I  still  run  a  fast  train  on  the 
Pennsylvania  Lines.  I  have  been  out  to  Minneapolis  on  a 
little  vacation,  telling  men  what  Jesus  can  do,  and  I  am 
glad  to  tell  you  what  Jesus  can  do." 

I  am  absolutely  certain  that  God  is  waiting  to  answer 
prayer, — waiting  to  answer  prayers  for  many.  At  times 
there  are  hindering  things.  Sometim.es  there  are  uncon- 
fessed  faults.  These  are  a  deadly  obstacle.  Let  us  put  them 
out  of  the  way,  so  that  we  may  pray  one  for  another  and 
see  men  healed. 

There  never  could  have  been  the  false  faiths  believed  in 
and  alleged  healings  which  nov/  prevail,  if  only  men  w^ould 
act  according  to  the  Scriptures  in  the  case  of  those  who  are 
sick.  It  is  so  easy  for  Satan  to  get  people  to  say  that  there 
is  no  sickness,  so  much  easier  than  the  Holy  Spirit  finds  it 
to  get  men  to  confess  their  faults  one  to  another,  and  pray 
one  for  another  that  they  may  be  healed. 


Chapter  IV 

"WHATSOEVER  YE  SHALL  ASK 
IN  MY  NAME" 


FOREWORD 

"We  believe  that  one  of  the  serious  and  most  popular 
errors  of  the  modern  pulpit  is  the  putting  of  more  thought 
than  prayer,  of  more  head  than  of  heart  in  its  sermons. 
Big  hearts  make  big  preachers ;  good  hearts  make  good 
preachers.  A  theological  school  to  enlarge  and  cultivate 
the  heart  is  the  golden  desideratum  of  the  gospel.  The 
pastor  binds  his  people  to  him  and  rules  his  people  by  his 
heart.  They  may  admire  his  gifts,  they  may  be  proud 
of  his  ability,  they  may  be  affected  for  the  time  by  his 
sermons;    but  the  stronghold  of  his  power  is  his  heart. 

"The  good  shepherd  gives  his  life  for  the  sheep.  Heads 
never  make  martyrs.  It  is  the  heart  which  surrenders 
the  life  to  love  and  fidelity.  It  takes  great  courage  to 
be  a  faithful  pastor,  but  the  heart  alone  can  supply  this 
courage.  Gifts  and  genius  may  be  brave,  but  it  is  the 
gifts  and  genius  of  the  heart  and  not  of  the  head. 

'*It  is  easier  to  fill  the  head  than  it  is  to  prepare  the 
heart.  It  is  easier  to  make  a  brain  sermon  than  a  heart 
sermon.  It  was  the  heart  that  drew  the  Son  of  God  from 
heaven.  It  is  heart  that  will  draw  men  to  heaven.  Men 
of  heart  is  what  the  world  needs  to  sympathize  with  its 
woe,  to  kiss  away  its  sorrows,  to  compassionate  its  misery 
and  to  alleviate  its  pain.  Christ  was  eminently  the  man 
of  sorrows,  because  He  was  pre-eminently  the  man  of 
heart."— £".  M.  Bounds, 


CHAPTER  IV 

"WHATSOEVER  YE  SHALL  ASK  IN  MY 
NAME" 

C^T  1[  THATSOEVER  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that 
W  will  I  do"  (John  14:13).  This  is  another 
'of  those  marvellous  statements,  so  broad  and 
sweeping  that  they  seem  entirely  too  good  to  be  true,  and 
yet  like  all  other  words  of  God,  when  we  know  exactly 
what  they  say  and  test  them,  we  find  them  to  be  not  par- 
tially, but  literally  and  entirely  according  to  fact.  "What- 
soever ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do."  Of  course, 
we  have  not  here,  as  we  do  not  have  anj^vhere  in  the  sub- 
ject of  prayer,  a  mere  matter  of  words  to  deal  w^ith.  One 
of  the  greatest  sermons  which  I  ever  heard  preached  was 
that  by  Dr.  C.  I.  Scofield  on  "The  Peril  of  Unrealit}^" 

It  is  so  easy  to  say  things  without  knowing  what  we  say> 
without  having  anything  in  heart  which  corresponds. 

I  well  remember  when  I  first  began  to  meditate  on  the 
expression:  "In  my  name."  I  have  thought  of  it  a  great 
deal  since,  have  prayed  about  it  some,  not  so  much  as  I 
should,  have  studied  it  in  the  writings  of  others, — most  re- 
cently in  the  writings  of  Dr.  W.  E.  Biederwolf  of  this 
country  and  Rev.  James  William  Thirtle  of  London.  I 
have  been  helped  by  meditation  in  answer  to  prayer  and 
by  the  teaching  of  my  brethren.  Let  me,  as  briefly  as  I  can, 
tell  you  what  "In  my  name"  means  to  me. 

99 


100  Getting  Things  From  God 

A  Bank  Check  Illustrates 

The  common  illustration  is  the  bank  check.  The  bank 
does  not  care  about  the  names  of  people  unless  they  have 
deposits.  If  I  draw  a  check  and  have  no  money  in  the 
bank,  the  bank  vi^ill  not  pay  me  currency,  but  if  I  can 
secure  an  endorser  who  is  known  to  the  banker,  who  has 
money  in  the  bank,  who  is  a  trustworthy  man,  then  the 
bank  will  let  me  have  the  money.  If  I  ask  in  my  own  name 
I  do  not  receive.  If  I  ask  in  the  name  of  my  friend,  who 
is  able,  I  do  receive.  This  is  a  simple,  but  an  effective  illus- 
tration. 

If  I  pray  in  the  name  of  Jesus, — thaf  is,  if  I  request 
things  from  God,  relying  upon  His  power,  His  merits,  I  am 
asking  in  His  name.  If  I  make  these  same  requests,  rely- 
ing upon  my  own  merits,  upon  my  own  worth  or  works, 
then  I  am  not  asking  in  His  name;  I  am  asking  in  my  own 
name.  In  the  latter  case  I  have  no  promise.  In  the  for- 
mer case  I  have.  "If  ye  shall  ask  anything  in  my  name,  I 
will  do  it"  (John  14:13).  "Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  of 
the  Father  in  my  name,  he  will  give  it  you"  (John  15:16). 

We  are  so  prone  to  close  our  prayers  with  words  like 
these:  'Tor  Jesus*  sake,"  or  something  equivalent.  This  is 
all  right,  provided  we  know  what  we  are  saying  and  mean 
what  we  say,  but  how  many  times,  repeating  these  solemn 
words,  do  we  actually  have  in  mind  for  the  sake  of  Jesus, 
because  of  His  worth  and  work.  Beyond  question,  often- 
times we  say:  "For  Jesus'  sake,"  without  thinking  what  it 
means  and  many  times  when  perhaps  we  really  ask  and  ex- 
pect or  hope  to  receive  because  of  what  we  are,  have  done, 
or  may  yet  do.  The  most  effective  illustration  of  asking  in 
the  name  of  another  came  to  me  years  ago,  I  think  in  a 


** Whatsoever  Ye  Shall  Ask  in  My  Name"        loi 

sermon  by  Major  D.  W.  Whittle,  but  of  this  I  will  not  be 
sure.    The  story,  however,  ran  as  follows: 

A  Banker's  Son 

It  was  during  the  Civil  War  and  a  gentleman  in  In- 
dianapolis had  an  only  son  who  enlisted  in  the  armies  of 
the  Union.  The  father  was  a  banker  and  though  he  con- 
sented to  his  son's  going,  it  seemed'  as  if  it  would  take  his 
very  life  to  have  him  go.  He  was  ceaselessly  interested  in 
soldiers.  Whenever  he  saw  a  uniform  his  heart  went  out 
to  it.  He  thought  of  his  boy.  He  spent  his  time,  he  neg- 
lected his  business,  he  gave  his  money  for  raising  companies 
or  regiments,  for  caring  for  soldiers  invalided  home.  At 
last  his  friends  remonstrated.  They  said  to  him:  ''There 
ought  to  be  moderation  in  all  things.  You  have  no  right 
to  neglect  your  business  in  this  manner."  And  he  resolved 
that  he  would  not  spend  so  much  time  and  thought  upon 
soldiers, — that  he  would  attend  to  his  business  and  let  the 
government  take  care  of  the  boys  in  blue. 

After  he  had,  come  to  this  decision,  there  stepped  into 
his  bank  one  day  a  private  soldier  in  a  faded,  worn  imi- 
form,  who  showed  in  his  face  and  hands  the  marks  of  the 
hospital.  The  poor  fellow  was  fumbling  in  his  blouse  to  get 
something  or  other,  when  the  banker  saw  him  and,  perceiv- 
ing his  purpose,  said  to  him:  "My  dear  fellow,  I  cannot 
do  anything  for  you  today.  I  am  extremely  busy.  You  will 
have  to  go  up  to  headquarters;  the  officers  there  will  look 
after  you."  Still  the  poor  convalescent  stood,  not  seeming 
fully  to  understand  what  was  said  to  him.  Still  he  fumbled 
in  his  blouse,  and  by  and  by  fished  out  a  scrap  of  dirty 
paper,  on  which  there  were  a  few  lines  written  in  pencil, 
and  this  soiled  sheet  he  laid  before  the  banker.     On  it  he 


102  '     Getting  Things  From  God 

found  written  these  words:  ''Dear  Father:  This  is  one 
of  my  comrades.  He  was  wounded  in  our  last  fight  and  has 
been  in  the  hospital.  Please  receive  him  as  myself.  Charlie." 
In  a  moment  all  the  resolutions  of  indiiference  which  this 
man  had  made  flew  away.  He  took  the  boy  to  his  palatial 
home,  put  him  into  Charlie's  room,  gave  him  Charlie's  seat 
at  the  table,  kept  him  until  food  and  rest  and  love  had 
brought  him  back  to  life,  and  then  sent  him  back  again  to 
peril  his  life  for  the  flag.  The  boy  asked  in  the  name  of  the 
son,  and  the  father  responded  to  his  request. 

How  We  May  Offend  God 
No  man  ever  comes  to  God  with  such  a  reliance  on  Jesus 
Christ  as  that  soldier  lad  had  upon  the  plea  of  his  com- 
rade, and  is  sent  away  unhelped.  "If  ye  shall  ask  anything 
in  my  name,  I  will  do  it."  We  are  terribly  prone  to  self- 
conceit,  to  self-righteousness,  to  dependence  upon  the  human 
in  some  way,  and  God  is  not  pleased  with  this  and  does  not 
make  answer  to  this.  He  wishes  us  to  come  in  the  name  of 
His  Son.  Jesus  Christ  left  His  throne  in  Heaven,  the  songs 
of  the  angels,  the  sights  of  the  crystal  rivers,  and  the  never- 
dying  trees,  the  shining  walls,  to  live  in  a  mechanic's  cot- 
tage, to  be  rejected  and  despised  by  the  creatures  whom  He 
had  made,  and  finally  to  be  publicly  executed  as  a  criminal, 
not  for  his  own  ill-doing,  but  for  ours.  "He  w^as  wounded 
for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities :  the 
chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him;  and  with  his 
stripes  we  are  healed"  (Isa.  53:5).  What  an  offense,  what 
an  indignity  when  all  this  has  been  done  for  us,  for  one  to 
proffer  requests  at  the  throne  of  heaven  because  of  his  own 
little  righteousnesses,  which  are  in  the  sight  of  God  like 
filthy  rags.    God  cannot  answer  such  petitions.    They  offend 


"Whatsoever  Ye  Shall  Ask  in  My  Name'*        lo^ 

Him.  If  we  mean  better  than  we  do  and  our  Ignorances 
lead  us  to  such  blundering,  He  will  forgive  us,  but  He  is 
not  pleased  and  this  is  not  the  road  to  successful  prayer. 

Again,  praying  in  the  name  of  Jesus  is  praying  in  order 
that  the  name  of  Jesus  may  be  glorified,  His  kingdom  built 
up,  His  church  established.  This  test  again  causes  many 
of  our  supposed  prayers  to  disappear. 

V/hy  Do  I  Pray? 

"My  child  is  sick.  I  am  worn  with  watching,  tired 
out,  and  I  pray  for  the  healing  of  my  child.  Why?  In  or- 
der that  Jesus  Christ  may  be  glorified?  In  order  that 
other  sick  people  may  hear  what  a  great  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
is,  and  coming  to  Him  obtain  help  which  they  may  testify 
to  others,  thus  passing  on  the  word  to  the  glorj^  of  God? 
Not  at  all.  I  am  likely  to  pray  in  order  that  my  doctor's 
bills  may  cease  to  accumulate,  in  order  that  I  may  be  able 
to  sleep  nights,  in  order  that  I  may  not  be  distressed  by  the 
sight  of  pain  w^hich  I  cannot  relieve,  in  order  that  my  boy 
may  get  back  to  his  place  in  the  school,  in  order  that  he  may 
help  about  the  work  at  home."  There  are  a  thousand 
things  for  which  I  may  pray  apart  from  the  honor  of  Jesus, 
but  if  I  do  not  pray  that  He  may  be  glorified,  only  that  I 
may  be  eased  and  comforted,  what  object  would  He  have 
in  answering  my  prayer? 

I  repeat  once  more:  God  is  very  merciful  to  our  igno- 
rances, and  when  we  mean  better  than  we  do.  He  knows  it, 
but  the  promise  is  definitely  made  to  those  w^ho  ask  in  the 
name  of  Jesus.  If  we  do  not  ask  in  His  name,  we  have  not 
a  promise  to  rely  upon,  though  in  His  mercy,  as  so  often. 
He  may  go  beyond  His  promise  and  aid  us  without  desert. 
But  I  write  for  serious  people  who  really  wish  to  know  how 


104  Getting  Things  From  God 

to  pray,  who  wonder  why  their  prayers  have  not  been  more 
prevailing,  who  would  like  to  pray  prevailingly,  and  so  I 
state  this  condition  as  it  is  in  the  Word  of  God.  If  we  are 
to  succeed  in  prayer,  we  must  pray  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 
One  dear  friend  speaks  of  the  character  of  Jesus  as  involved 
in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  this  suggestion  also  has  a  weight. 
My  friend,  Rev.  James  William  Thirtle  of  London,  in 
his  book  speaks  quite  at  length  on  the  Jewish  method  of 
prayer  and  the  relation  of  this  particular  direction  to  those 
methods.  All  that  these  brethren  say  is  true  and  has  weight, 
but  the  great  thing,  I  believe,  for  the  one  v/ho  reads  these 
words  is  to  be  sure  that  when  he  prays  there  are  two  things 
that  he  desires, — first,  that  God  may  grant  his  petitions  be- 
cause he  comes  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  relying  upon  the  mer- 
its of  Jesus,  having  no  confidence  in  his  own  righteousness, 
less  or  more,  and  in  order  that  Jesus  may  be  glorified,  that 
people  may  hear  of  the  wonderful  things  that  He  does,  and 
thus  hearing,  repent,  themselves  believe  and  receive  blessing. 
This  it  is,  I  think,  to  ask  in  the  name  of  Jesus  and  this  is 
an  all-prevailing  name.  "Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  of  the 
Father  in  my  name,  hq  will  give  it  to  you"  (John  15:16). 
If  we  ask  anything  in  His  name,  God  will  give  it  to  us. 


Chapter  V 
"ACCORDING  TO  HIS  WILL' 


FOREWORD 

"When  a  Christian  does  not  yield  entirely  to  the  leading 
of  the  Spirit — and  this  is  certainly  the  will  of  God  and 
the  work  of  His  grace — he  lives,  without  knowing  it, 
under  the  power  of  'the  flesh.'  This  life  of  'the  flesh' 
manifests  itself  in  many  different  ways.  It  appears  in 
the  hastiness  of  spirit,  or  the  anger  which  so  unexpectedly 
arises  in  you,  in  the  lack  of  love  for  which  you  have  so 
often  blamed  yourself;  in  the  pleasure  found  in  eating 
and  drinking,  about  which  at  times  your  conscience  has 
chidden  you ;  in  that  seeking  for  your  own  will  and 
honor,  that  confidence  in  your  own  wisdom  and  power, 
that  pleasure  in  the  world,  of  which  you  are  sometimes 
ashamed  before  God.  All  this  is  life  'after  the  flesh.' 
'Ye  are  yet  carnal'  (i  Cor.  3:3) — that  text,  perhaps,  dis- 
turbs you  at  times;  you  have  not  full  peace  and  joy  in 
God. 

"I  pray  you  take  time  and  give  an  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion:— Have  I  not  found  here  the  cause  of  my  prayerless- 
ness,  of  my  powerlessness  to  effect  any  change  in  the 
matter?  I  live  in  the  Spirit,  I  have  been  born  again, 
but  I  do  not  walk  after  the  Spirit — 'the  flesh*  lords  it 
over  me.  The  carnal  life  cannot  possibly  pray  in  the 
spirit  and  power.  God  forgive  me.  The  carnal  life  is 
evidently  the  cause  of  my  sad  and  shameful  prayerless- 
ness." — Andrevj  Murray. 


CHAPTER  V 

"ACCORDING  TO  HIS  WILL" 

E  are  speaking  of  the  conditions  of  successful 
praj-er.  In  this  matter,  as  in  all  others  which  are 
of  life-and-death  importance,  the  teaching  of 
God's  Word  is  so  plain  that  he  may  "read  who  runs'* 
(Hab.  2:2).  "The  wayfaring  man,  though  he  were  a  fool, 
need  make  no  mistake"  (Isaiah  35:8).  "And  this  is  the 
confidence  that  we  have  in  him,  that,  if  we  ask  anything 
according  to  his  will,  he  heareth  us:  And  if  we  know  that 
he  hear  us,  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  know  that  we  have  the 
petitions  that  we  desired',  of  him"  (1  John  5:14,  15).  But 
how  can  we  be  sure  that  we  are  asking  according  to  the 
will  of  God,  the  will  of  Jesus  Christ?  Can  w^e  be  sure 
when  we  ask  of  must  we  wait  for  the  end  and  finally  learn 
that  we  have  or  have  not  asked  according  to  His  will?  I 
used  to  be  greatly  troubled  about  this  matter.  How  many 
times  I  prayed  and  still  prayed,  and  still  was  in  doubt  as 
to  the  will  of  God.  By  and  by  I  was  compelled  to  act. 
The  time  for  deliberation  was  past  and  I  had  to  move.  Often 
having  done  so  and  having  reached  the  end  of  a  passage  in 
my  life,  I  could  look  back,  as  Bunyan  did  in  the  morning 
over  the  path  he  had  traversed,  and  I  could  see  that  God 
had  guided  me  as  I  asked  Him  to,  upheld,  protected,  ener- 
gized. 

I  one  time  said  to  my  father:  "I  wish  I  could  know 
when  I  act,  whether  I  am  doing  according  to  the  will  of 

207 


jo8  '    Getting  Things  From  God 

God  or  not.  I  pray  according  to  James  1 :5 :  'Lord,  I  lack 
wisdom.  I  desire  wisdom.  Please  give  me  wisdom,'  and 
yet  I  am;  not  sure  that  He  has  done  so.  I  go  forward  Into 
the  dark.  After  a  time  I  can  see  that  my  prayer  has  been 
answered,  that  God  has  given  me  wisdom,  that  I  have  de- 
sired things  which  were  according  to  His  will,  but  I  wish 
I  might  know  it  at  the  time."  My  father  said  to  me:  "You 
need  Proverbs  16 :3 :  'Commit  thy  works  unto  the  Lord, 
and  thy  thoughts  shall  be  established.'  " 

What  Is  It  to  Have  Our  Thoughts  Established? 

It  is  to  feel  sure  respecting  the  thing  that  we  are  think- 
ing of.  When  we  are  asking  for  guidance,  if  our  thoughts 
are  established  we  shall  be  settled  in  a  conviction  that  we 
are  being  guided.  We  shall  know  that  God  Is  keeping  His 
word  to  us.  This  promise  seems  to  he  definite  and  to  be 
a  firm  reliance  if  the  condition  is  fulfilled.  What  was  the 
trouble  with  Balaam?  His  difficulty  was  that  he  wanted 
the  reward  which  the  king  of  Moab  could  give  him.  He 
prayed  to  God  to  know  if  he  should  go.  God  said: 
"No,  do  not  go."  The  messengers  came  back,  promising 
larger  rewards,  and  he  went  and  asked  God  whether  he 
should  go.  He  wanted  to  go — that  was  his  trouble.  His 
works  were  not  committed  to  God.  He  knew  what  God 
wished.  He  wished  something  else.  God's  way  did  not 
involve  treasures  of  silver  and  gold.  His  way  did.  He 
loved  the  wages  of  unrighteousness;  he  did  not  love  the 
unrighteousness. 

He  would  like  to  have  been  freed  from  it.  He  loved 
the  wages.  He  v^ranted  the  things  that  the  king  could  give 
and  would  give.  He  was  afraid  to  go  against  the  com- 
mands of  God,  but   his   ways  were  not  committed.      He 


"According  to  His  Will"  log 

could  not  say  as  David  did:  "I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O 
my  God"  (Psa.  40:8).  He  did  not  delight  in  the  will  of 
God.  He  would  have  obeyed  it.  In  a  way  he  did  obey  it; 
that  is  to  say,  he  did  not  go  until  he  was  permitted  and  he 
said  the  things  that  he  was  required  to  say,  but  he  did  not 
delight  in  the  will  of  God. 

When  our  ways  are  committed,  then  our  whole  hearts 
go  God's  road  and  if  we  thus  commit  our  ways  to  Him, 
He  establishes  our  thoughts;  that  is.  He  teaches  us  the 
things  that  He  wills  for  us  to  be  and  do.  Guidance  of  this 
kind  makes  life  beautiful ;  to  be  without  it  is  not  only  sorrow 
but  it  is  a  deadly  danger  as  well. 

Here,  for  example,  is  a  young  man.  He  is  attracted  by 
a  bright,  beautiful,  gifted  young  woman.  He  is  a  Christian 
man.  She  is  a  woman  of  the  world,  a  very  lovely  woman 
of  the  world,  but  a  woman  of  the  world.  He  asks  God  for 
success  In  his  wooing,  yet  when  he  asks,  the  Spirit  says  to 
him:  "But  you  are  a  Christian.  She  Is  not  a  Christian. 
You  will  be  unequally  joined  if  you  are  married.  You  are 
a  child  of  God.  She  belongs  to  the  world."  If  his  works 
are  committed  to  God,  if  he  Is  willing  to  do  God's  way, 
if  he  is  willing  to  marry  her  or  anybody  else,  or  not  to 
marry  at  all,  just  as  God  shall  plan,  he  can  receive  certain 
guidance.  In  this  particular  instance  God  has  spoken  In  His 
Word.  He  reinforces  His  Word  by  His  Spirit.  In  some 
Instances  He  speaks  by  His  prophets  and  by  His  Spirit,  but 
always  He  speaks.  No  one  commits  his  work  to  God  hon- 
estly and  entirely  without  being  able  to  ask  according  to 
the  will  of  Jesus. 

A  Case  in  Point 

A  ministerial  brother  told  me  that  a  young  lady,  a  mem- 
ber of  his  church,  once  came  to  him  and  said:  "Pastor,  I 


no  Getting  Things  From  God 

am  to  be  married  next  week,  on  Wednesday.  I  wish  you 
would  come  around  to  our  house  in  the  evening  and  perform 
the  ceremony."  He  said:  "Are  you  to  marry  this  young 
man  with  whom  you  have  been  keeping  company?"  She 
said:  "Yes."  He  said:  "Well,  I  cannot  marry  you."  She 
was  greatly  surprised  and  said:  "Why  not?"  "Because  you 
are  a  child  of  God  and  he  is  a  man  of  the  world,  and  I  am 
forbidden  to  marry  you."  "Well,"  she  said,  "I  think  it  very 
strange  If  my  pastor  will  not  marry  me."  He  said:  "I  will 
marry  you  If  you  will  marry  In  the  Lord.  I  will  be  glad 
to  do  so  but  I  will  not  take  the  responsibility  of  joining 
you  for  life  In  marriage  to  a  man  who  Is  not  a  Christian 
man." 

It  was  not  difficult  for  her  to  find  ministers  who  had 
no  such  scruples.  She  was  married  according  to  program. 
Within  a  year  she  was  a  heartbroken  bride  and  came  to  my 
friend,  saying  to  him:  "Oh  pastor,  if  I  had  only  known — 
if  I  had  only  known."  She  might  more  properly  have  said: 
"If  I  had  only  obeyed,"  for  she  did  know.  What  she  lacked 
was  a  disposition  to  obey. 

A  Christian  man  once  said  to  me  that  he  had  just  fin- 
ished paying  $150,000  of  security  money.  I  said  to  him :  "Why 
did  you  do  that?  You  had  no  right  to  do  so,  being  a  Chris- 
tian." He  said:  "Why  not?"  I  said:  "Because  the  Word 
of  God  forbids  you  to  do  things  of  that  kind."  He  said: 
"There  is  nothing  about  that  In  the  Bible."  "Oh 
yes,"  I  said,  "there  Is  plenty  about  that  In  the  Bible." 
"Be  not  thou  one  of  them  that  strike  hands,  or  of  them  that 
are  sureties  for  debts''  (Prov.  22:26).  "Well,"  he  said,  "I 
have  been  a  Bible  teacher  ever  since  I  was  a  young  man  and 
I  supposed  I  knew  the  Bible  pretty  well,  but  I  never  knew 


"According  to  His  Will"  iii 

there  was  anything  in  It  about  going  a  security.     If  I  had 
obeyed  that  verse  it  would  have  saved  me  $150,000." 

I  had  a  friend  who  was  a  banker.  He  was  an  earnest 
Christian  man.  He  had  a  brother  who  was  not  a  confessed 
Christian,  who  had  been  a  Spiritualist,  a  Christian  Scientist, 
and  what  not.  This  brother  came  to  my  friend  and  said 
to  him :  "I  would  like  to  put  $50,000  into  your  bank  and  be 
a  banker  with  you."  My  friend  said:  ''No,  brother,  that 
will  not  do."  *'Why  not?"  said  his  brother.  ''Because  I  am 
a  Christian  and  you  are  not  a  Christian.  If  we  were  part- 
ners we  should  inevitably  quarrel.  We  would  become  harvl 
in  our  feelings  one  toward  the  other.  You  would  want  to 
look  over  the  books  on  Sunday,  or  in  a  busy  time  have 
something  done  in  the  bank,  and  I  would  not  permit  it, 
and  then  you  would  find  fault  and  I  should  find  fault  and 
there  would  be  trouble.  I  tell  you  what  you  do.  There  is 
a  good  building  two  blocks  below  us.  Buy  that  building. 
Take  out  a  charter  for  a  national  bank.  I  will  help  you 
every  way  I  can.  If  any  of  my  depositors  wish  to  go  to  you, 
I  will  encourage  them  to  do  it.  In  this  way  you  and  I  can 
continue  friends,  as  we  always  have  been,  but  if  we  should 
be  partners  we  should  not  be  friends.  We  cannot  afFord 
to  sacrifice  our  friendship  as  brothers  for  a  little  money." 

How  wise  men  would  be  if  they  would  simply  give  at- 
tention to  what  God  says.  Of  course,  in  order  to  give  atten- 
tion to  it  they  must  know  what  it  is.  Here  is  oftentimes 
the  failure.  Men  read  the  Bible  in  streaks  or  spots.  They 
do  not  read  it  as  a  whole.  The  result  may  be  that  the  very 
teaching  which  they  require  for  the  particular  emergency 
which  is  upon  them,  they  do  not  have  and  they  ask  but  do 
not  ask  according  to  the  mind  of  Jesus,  according  to  the 
will  of  God,  and  of  course,  unless  God  grants  their  petitions^ 


112  Getting  Things  From  God 

as  a  matter  of  discipline  and  punishment  they  cannot  receive 
the  things  which  they  desire. 

In  my  own  experience  I  can  truly  say  that  since  my 
father  gave  me  Proverbs  16:3  I  have  never  patiently  waited 
upon  God  for  wisdom  with  my  works  fully  committed,  will- 
ing and  determined  to  do  according  to  the  mind  of  God, 
without  knowing  that  He  willed  the  thing  which  I  decided 
to  do.  Apart  from  self-determination  in  this  matter,  I  think 
the  next  great  danger  is  haste. 

The  Peril  of  Haste 

"He  that  hasteth  with  his  feet  sinneth"  (Prov.  19:2)  ; 
"He  that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste"  (Isa.  28:16). 
In  other  w^ords,  if  we  wish  to  ask  according  to  His  will,  we 
must  take  time  to  find  out  what  it  is  and  we  must  take 
as  much  time  as  is  necessary.  God  does  not  permit  us  to  rush 
into  His  presence  and  to  give  Him  orders,  to  tell  Him  that 
we  have  very  little  time  to  spend  with  Him,  and  that  He 
must  answer  us  immediately.  All  such  dealing  is  an  offense 
to  God.  As  I  have  said  repeatedly  heretofore,  He  is  very 
patient  with  us  when  He  knows  that  our  hearts  are  right. 
Of  course  he  makes  allowance  for  temperamental  condi- 
tions. He  knows  when  people  blunder  because  they  are 
willful,  and  when  they  blunder  because  they  are  defective, 
but  haste  is  a  deadly  thing  for  a  Christian. 

I  heard  Dr.  Herrick  Johnson  once  say  in  an  address  to 
theological  students:  "My  young  brethren,  never  go  into 
a  pulpit  unless  you  are  sure  you  have  something  to  say 
which  is  true.  Men  have  doubts  enough  of  their  own  and 
the  preaching  of  doubts  is  never  a  good  thing  for  anybody 
— the  man  who  preaches  or  those  who  listen — but  when  you 
are  certain  that  you  have  a  message  which  is  from  God  that 


"According  to  His  Will"  ii^ 

men  need,  you  can  preach  with  confidence  and  power  and 
God  will  bless  it.  This  will  limit  your  field  somewhat, 
but  you  will  find  that  there  are  plenty  of  things  in  the 
Christian  faith  which  you  can  know  are  true,  about  which 
you  need  have  no  doubt  whatsoever.  Those  are  the  things 
which  you  should  preach." 

What  he  said  to  those  young  ministers  I  would  say  to 
every  child  of  God  who  reads  these  words.  You  do  not 
need  to  be  in  a  hurry.  You  will  find  the  old  proverb  true: 
''The  more  haste,  the  less  speed."  When  I  was  a  boy  I  read  a 
little  story  which  I  have  not  recently  seen  in  print,  but 
which  was  very  instructive  and  helpful.     It  ran  like  this: 

A  young  man,  starting  out  on  horseback  for  a  certain 
city,  met  an  old  man  and  said  to  him:  "I  am  riding  for 
such  a  town.  Do  you  think  I  will  get  there  by  night?" 
And  the  elderly  man  replied:  "Yes,  you  may  if  you  ride 
slow  enough."  The  young  man  thought  this  w^as  a  most 
ridiculous  reply  and,  using  spur  and  whip,  he  hurried  along 
the  way  as  fast  as  he  could  go.  After  a  little  while  his  horse 
was  worn  out  and  could  not  travel  so  well.  By  this  time 
his  old  friend  whom  he  had  left  behind,  overtook  him  and 
the  young  man  said  again :  *'Do  you  think  I  shall  get  to  this 
town  by  nightfall?"  and  the  elder  man  said:  "Yes,  if  you 
ride  fast  enough."  But  he  could  not  ride  fast  enough.  He 
had  exhausted  his  animal  in  the  unseemly  haste  of  the  morn- 
ing hours  and  he  was  compelled  to  journey  in  the  darkness, 
while  his  friend  who  had  given  him  good  counsel  and  had 
set  him  a  good  example,  was  safely  housed  by  the  time 
the  sun  was  down.  This  little  story  contains  truth  which 
every  thoughtful  person  may  well  heed.  He  that  belleveth 
will  not  make  haste. 

God  Is  willing  to  teach  men  His  will.     If  they  wait  on 


114  Getting  Things  From  God 

Him'  obedientl}^  He  will  do  it.  If  they  are  disobedient, 
or  if  they  are  in  disrespectful  haste,  they  must  go  without 
guidance  and  fare  as  they  can. 

A  New  Set  of  Nerves 

I  heard  Mr.  Moody  once  preaching  about  salvation  and 
he  remarked  that  some  men  said  that  their  nervous  systems 
had  been  so  injured  by  wrong  living,  that  it  was  impossible 
for  them  to  become  really  saved.  Mr.  Moody  said,  reply- 
ing: "If  God  can  make  the  world,  it  is  certainly  a  small 
affair  for  him  to  make  a  new  set  of  nerves  for  a  man  who 
is  willing  to  do  what  is  right  and  desires  to  be  saved."  We 
are  not  hindered  in  our  prayers  by  any  unwillingness  or  in- 
ability on  the  part  of  God.  We  are  hindered  by  our  own 
defects  and  failures.  If  we  ask  according  to  the  will  of 
God,  He  hears  us. 

It  is  possible  for  us  to  know  what  His  will  is  and  it  is 
possible  for  use  to  ask  according  to  it  and  if  we  fail  to  do 
this,  we  ought  not  to  complain  of  unanswered  prayer,  for 
prayer  so-called,  which  does  not  comply  with  the  clearly 
expressed  conditions  of  prayer,  is  not  prayer  at  all.  It  is 
an  attempt  to  coax  God  to  do  things  which  He  has  said 
He  will  not  do.    This  is  not  praying — it  is  insulting  God^ 


Chapter  VI 

"WITHOUT  FAITH  IT  IS  IMPOSSIBLE 
TO  PLEASE  HIM" 


FOREWORD 

"*Why,  then,'  said  the  minister,  'do  you  not  try  this 
again  ?  As  you  go  to  your  inner  chamber,  however  cold 
and  dark  your  heart  may  be,  do  not  try  in  your  own 
might  to  force  yourself  into  the  right  attitude.  Bow  be- 
fore Him,  and  tell  Him  that  He  sees  in  what  a  sad  state 
you  are,  and  that  your  only  hope  is  in  Hira.  Trust  Him, 
with  a  child-like  trust,  to  have  mercy  upon  you,  and 
wait  upon  Him.  In  such  a  trust  you  are  in  a  right 
relationship  to  Him.  You  have  nothing — He  has  every- 
thing.' Some  time  later  she  told  the  minister  that  his 
advice  had  helped  her;  she  had  learned  that  faith  in 
the  love  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  the  only  method  of  getting 
into  fellowship  with  God  in  prayer. 

"Do  you  not  begin  to  see,  my  reader,  that  there  are  two 
kinds  of  warfare — the  first  when  we  seek  to  conquer 
prayerlessness  in  our  own  strength.  In  that  case,  my  ad- 
vice to  you  is: — 'Give  over  your  restlessness  and  effort; 
fall  helpless  at  the  feet  of  the  Lord  Jesus;  He  will  speak 
the  word,  and  your  soul  will  live.'  If  you  have  done 
this,  then,  second,  comes  the  message: — This  is  but  the 
beginning  of  everything.  It  will  require  deep  earnest- 
ness, and  the  exercise  of  all  your  power,  and  a  watch- 
fulness of  the  entire  heart — eager  to  detect  the  least 
backsliding.  Above  all,  it  will  require  a  surrender  to 
a  life  of  self-sacrifice  that  God  really  desires  to  see  in 
us  and  which  He  will  work  out  for  us." — Andreiv  Mur' 
ray. 


CHAPTER  VI 

"WITHOUT    FAITH    IT    IS    IMPOSSIBLE    TO 
PLEASE  HIM" 

HERE  is  another  of  the  clearly  expressed  conditions 
of  successful  prayer.  "He  that  cometh  to  God 
must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  the  rewarder 
of  them  that  diligently  seek  him"  (Heb.  1 1 :6).  It  is  strange 
that  we  stumble  over  the  simplest  things  in  Christian  life. 
What  is  faith?  It  is  said  that  a  lad,  being  asked,  replied: 
"Faith  is  believing  things  that  are  not  true."  Of  course 
this  would  do  for  a  boy,  but  do  not  a  great  many  persons 
who  are  out  oi  childhood  have  an  ill-defined  feeling  that 
this  is  about  the  sum  of  that  matter? 

I  read  in  one  of  my  books  a  definition  which  I  like  very 
much.  It  ran  this  way:  "Faith  is  a  disposition  to  believe 
what  is  true,  upon  sufficient  evidence."  Another  one  has 
said :  "Faith  is  confidence  impersonated."  One  of  the  words 
which  we  often  use  as  equivalent  to  "faith"  is  "trust." 
When  I  say  that  I  have  faith  in  a  man,  I  simply  mean  that 
I  trust  him.  In  our  dealings  with  God,  we  shall  often 
obtain  help  if  we  remember  that  we  are  made  in  His  likeness. 
This  means  in  His  spiritual  likeness, — certainly  not  in  His 
physical  likeness,  for  God  is  a  spirit  and  those  who  worship 
Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  If  we  are 
spiritually  created  in  the  image  of  God,  then  barring  sin  and 
the  effects  of  sin,  we  may  expect  to  find  in  our  own  being, 

117 


Ii8  Getting  Things  From  God 

hints  and  suggestions  as  to  His.    If  exercising  faith  in  a  man 
is  trusting  him,  exercising  faith  in  God  is  trusting  God. 

Let  Us  Go  On  a  Little 

When  I  trust  a  man,  what  do  I  do?  I  believe  what 
he  tells  me  to  be  true  and  that  he  will  fulfil  the  promises 
which  he  makes.  If  I  say  that  I  trust  him  and  do  not  ex- 
pect him  to  keep  his  word  or  do  not  rely  upon  what  he  has 
said,  I  am  telling  a  lie.  It  is  just  so  with  God.  Trusting 
God  is  believing,  expecting  that  He  will  keep  His  word,  that 
what  He  says  is  true,  is  according  to  fact.  With  this 
test  in  mind,  it  will  be  perfectly  easy  for  men  to  know 
whether  they  have  faith  in  Him  or  not.  God  says,  for 
example,  that  it  shall  be  well  with  the  righteous  and  ill  with 
the  wicked.  Do  you  believe  this  to  be  according  to  fact? 
God  declares  that  He  will  receive  the  righteous  Into  glorious 
habitations  and  that  He  will  punish  the  wicked  in  the  pool 
of  fire.  Do  you  believe  this  to  be  true  ?  God  says  that  if  we 
commit  our  works  to  Him,  our  thoughts  shall  be  established. 
Do  you  believe  this  to  be  true?  He  says  that  if  we  ask,  we 
shall  receive ;  if  we  seek,  we  shall  find ;  that  if  we  knock,  the 
door  shall  be  opened,  and  goes  on  to  say  that  everyone  who 
asks  receives,  and  that  those  who  seek  find,  and  that  to  those 
that  knock,  the  doors  are  opened.  Do  5^ou  believe  this  to  be 
true?  It  is  to  be  feared  that  many  persons  say  they  have 
faith  in  God  because  they  know  they  ought  to  trust  Him, 
when  in  fact  they  do  not  do  so.  This  is  a  dangerous  situ- 
ation.    No  one  should  tarry  in  it  for  an  hour. 

Impossible  to  Please  Him 

It  Is  remarkable  how  men  enjoy  being  trusted.     How 
many  times  I  have  seen  the  good  son  or  daughter  of  a  good 


"Without  Faith  it  is  Impossible  to  Please  Him"  iig 

father  or  mother  brighten  when  the  father  or  mother  has 
said:  "I  can  trust  my  boy  or  girl."  Many  times  tears  fill 
the  e3^es  of  the  child.  He  is  so  glad  that  his  parents  con- 
fide in  him  and  parents  are  just  as  pleased  when  their  chil- 
dren rely,  without  doubt  or  hesitation,  upon  their  word. 

I  read  years  ago  of  a  father  whose  son  was  absent  at 
school.  Coming  home  for  a  brief  vacation,  he  was  going 
over  the  estate  with  his  father  and  w^hile  looking  upon  a  w^all 
which  had  been  standing  on  a  portion  of  it,  the  father  re- 
marked to  the  boy  that  he  intended  to  have  that  wall  taken 
down.  The  lad  said:  "Father,  I  would  like  to  see  it  taken 
down.  Will  you  let  m^  '")e  here  when  it  is  taken  down?'* 
The  father  replied :  *'Yes,  my  boy,  I  will."  The  lad  re- 
turned to  his  school  life  and  the  father,  in  the  rush  of  affairs, 
forgot  his  promise  and  had  the  wall  removed  while  the  boy 
w^as  away.  When  the  lad  returned,  he  said  to  his  father, 
noticing  that  the  wall  was  gone :  'Tather,  j^ou  told  me  that 
I  might  see  that  wall  taken  down."  The  father  replied: 
"Yes,  my  boy,  I  did.  I  forgot.  I  am  sorr>%  but  you  shall 
see  a  wall  taken  down  though  I  forgot  my  promise." 

He  called  for  laborers  and  had  the  w^all  re-erected.  Then 
he  had  it  removed  while  his  boy  looked  on.  A  neighbor, 
conversant  with  the  facts,  said  to  him:  "You  are  a  born  fool. 
You  have  spent  one  hundred  pounds  for  the  whim  of  a 
child,"  but  that  wise  father  replied:  "I  wish  my  children 
to  know  that  I  keep  my  word  with  them  if  it  costs  me 
everything  I  am  worth  in  this  world."  So  God  is  pleased 
when  men  trust  Him  and  the  more  simple  and  unquestioning 
their  confidence,  the  more  gratified  He  is.  It  is  impossible 
to  please  Him  without  faith,  but  faith  pleases  Him  wonder- 
fully. 


120  '     Getting  Things  From  God 

Mr.  Moody's  Prayer  Answered 
A  friend  recently  told  me  a  story  which  I  had  never 
heard  before,  respecting  D.  L.  Moody.  One  day  he  had 
need  of  $3,000.  It  was  during  the  campaign  of  World's 
Fair  year  (1893).  Things  were  very  pressing  and  his  need 
at  that  time  was  imperative.  My  friend  said  that  he  knelt 
down  by  the  desk  in  his  room  at  the  Bible  Institute  in  Chi- 
cago and  prayed  thus:  "Lord,  you  know  I  need  $3,000  to- 
day,— that  I  must  have  it,  and  you  know  that  I  am  too  busy 
with  your  work  to  go  out  and  get  it.  Please  send  it  to  me. 
I  thank  you  that  you  will.     Amen." 

Mr.  Moody  then  rose  and  went  out  about  his  work. 
He  was  preaching  in  the  Auditorium.  The  audience  had 
assembled;  the  platform  was  filled.  A  young  woman  came 
up  to  an  usher  and  said :  "I  wish  to  see  Mr.  Moody."  He 
said:  "You  cannot  see  Mr.  Moody.  The  meeting  is  about 
to  begin."  She  said:  "But  I  must  see  Mr.  Moody."  He 
said :  "You  cannot  see  Mr.  Moody."  She  went  around  to 
another  aisle  and  tried  another  usher,  with  the  same  result. 
She  then  went  around  to  the  stage  entrance,  found  her  way 
through,  the  usher  thinking  her  to  be  a  singer,  worked  her 
way  down  to  the  front  and  put  an  envelope  into  Mr. 
Moody's  hand.  He  crushed  it  into  his  vest  pocket,  and 
went  on  with  his  meeting. 

At  dinner  he  remembered  that  he  had  received  that  letter 
at  the  meeting,  took  it  out  of  his  pocket,  and  found  it  to 
contain  a  check  for  $3,000.  This  was  the  answer  to  his 
prayer.  He  afterward  learned  that  that  morning  a  Chrlstain 
woman  said  to  herself:  "These  are  busy  days  for  Mr.  Moody. 
He  must  require  a  great  deal  of  money"  and  she  made  out 
a  cneck  for  $1,000.     After  she  had  written  it,  the  Spirit 


**Without  Faith  it  is  Impossible  to  Please  Hirn*   121 

said  to  her:  "That  will  not  be  sufficient.  He  will  need 
more  money  than  that."  So  she  tore  it  up  and  made  out 
a  check  of  $2,000.  This  did  not  seem  to  satisfy.  Still  she 
felt  sure  that  it  was  not  sufficient,  so  she  destroyed  the  slip 
of  paper  and  wrote  another  for  $3,000,  enveloped  it,  called 
her  maid  and  said:  **Will  you  please  put  this  in  the  post- 
box  over  there?"  But  just  as  the  maid  was  about  to  leave 
the  room,  she  said:  "He  may  not  get  it  until  tomorrow. 
He  may  need  it  today.  Put  on  your  things  and  slip  over  to 
the  Auditorium.  Give  It  to  Mr.  Moody,  and  do  not  let 
anyone  else  have  It."  So  the  Spirit  of  God  responded  to  the 
faith  of  a  man,  so  the  Spirit  of  God  always  responds  to  the 
faith  of  man. 

If  we  ask  anything  according  to  His  will,  He  hears  us 
and  If  we  know  that  He  hears  us,  we  know  that  we  have 
the  things  that  we  desire  of  Him,  and  when  we  know  that 
we  have,  of  course  we  believe.  We  believe  Him  In  general 
and  we  believe  Him  In  particular.  We  trust  for  the  special 
thing  In  hand  and  we  trust  Him  for  all  the  things  which 
are  to  come.  Without  faith  It  Is  Impossible  to  please  Him, 
and  faith  is  a  disposition  not  so  much  an  Intellectual  state. 
It  Is  the  loving  heart  of  a  child  going  out  In  confidence  to 
the  loving  care  of  a  father.  It  is  not  strange  that  faith 
works  such  wonders  and  It  is  not  strange  that  God  Is  so 
offended  with  those  who  will  not  believe. 

George  Muller's  Case 
Perhaps  there  has  been  no  example  of  triumphant  faith 
in  our  days  more  marked  than  that  of  George  Miiller,  the 
Bristol  orphanage  man.  I  count  It  one  of  the  great  blessings 
of  my  life  to  have  seen  and  heard  him,  for  such  men  are  very 
rare  in  the  history  of  the  church.      I   suppose  his.  Uf^  ^ 


122  Getting  Things  From  God 

familiar  to  all  my  readers.  If  it  is  not,  I  hope  it  may  be,  for 
it  is  a  wonderful  testimony  to  the  promise-keeping  of  God. 
He  had  at  times  over  two  thousand  persons  to  feed  and 
clothe  and  shelter.  It  was  with  him,  as  w^ith  J.  Hudson 
Taylor  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  a  fixed  principle  not 
to  go  in  debt  for  anything.  It  was  also  with  each  of  these 
brothers  a  fixed  principle  not  to  make  requests  directly  of 
men,  but  of  God.  They  never  questioned  men  respecting 
the  Lord's  work  and  they  trusted  the  Holy  Spirit  to  use 
the  Word  to  incite  them  to  the  work  which  God  would  have 
them  do. 

At  one  time  Mr.  Miiller  was  planning  for  the  erection 
of  a  large  building.  It  was  to  cost  some  seventy-five  thou- 
sand dollars.  Praying  for  a  time  a  first  gift  came  in  from 
England,  another  from  Australia,  and  other  gifts  follow^ed 
until  he  had  in  hand,  I  think,  over  sixty  thousand  dollars. 
Some  one  of  his  friends  said:  "We  ought  to  begin  putting 
up  the  building.  God  has  given  so  much.  He  w^ill  certainly 
give  the  rest."  But  Mr.  Miiller  said:  "No;  God  is  in  as 
great  a  hurry  for  that  building  as  I  am.  He  knows  what 
it  is  for  and  He  knows  where  to  get  the  money  with  which 
to  put  it  up.  We  will  not  lay  a  brick  or  disturb  sk  shovel- 
ful of  earth  until  the  money  is  in  the  bank."  They  did  not 
and  when  the  building  was  complete,  it  is  said  that  there 
remained  a  small  balance  over  and  above  all  the  needful  ex- 
penses of  construction. 

What  an  example  this  is  to  many  of  us — to  me — who 
have  oftentimes  been  in  greater  haste  about  God's  work 
than  He  was,  and  who  have  therefore  come  into  all  sorts  of 
difficulties.  I  myself  heard  Mr.  Miiller  say  that  during  his 
life  in  the  orphanages,  he  had  not  simply  scores  of  times,  but 
literally  hundreds  of  times,  been  absolutely  destitute  of  food 


"Without  Faith  it  is  Impossible  to  Please  Him'  12^ 

and  money  when  a  meal  for  his  great  family  was  finished, 
"And  yet,"  he  said,  "in  all  these  years,  never  on  a  single 
occasion  has  God  permitted  those  orphans  to  go  without  a 
meal  at  the  time  when  it  was  due.  In  order  to  provide 
for  them,  He  has  literally  sent  money  from  all  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  awakened  people  out  of  sleep,  sent  people  out 
of  their  way,  done  seemingly  almost  everything  that  could 
be  done  to  make  sure  that  those  who  were  trusting  Him 
should  not  lack  for  any  good  thing." 

Like  a  Grain  of  Mustard  Seed 
One  of  the  scriptures  respecting  prayer,  which  has  been 
a  great  comfort  and  help  to  me,  has  been  the  word  of  our 
Lord:  "H  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye  shall 
say  unto  this  mountain,  remove  hence  to  yonder  place;  and  it 
shall  remove;  and  nothing  shall  be  impossible  unto  you" 
(Matt.  17:20).  I  think  this  verse  was  intended  to  be  a 
help  to  those  who  are  conscious  of  defective  faith.  His  dis- 
ciples were  asking  that  He  should  give  them  more.  He 
seems  to  return  on  them  with  the  thought  that  they  should 
use  what  they  have.  Is  not  this  a  part  of  the  divine  plan? 
I  have  many  a  time  when  I  realized  that  my  faith  was 
far  less  than  it  ought  to  be,,  said  to  God:  "Father,  I  have 
not  the  faith  which  I  ought  to  have,  but  do  I  not  have 
faith  like  a  grain  of  mustard  seed?"  and  it  has  seemed  to  me 
that  He  always  said  "y^s,"  and  granted  me  the  thing  which 
I  desired. 

I  make  a  single  remark  further  in  closing  this  chapter 
and  that  is,  that  faith  in  a  person  depends  always  upon 
knowledge  of  characteristics,  and  knowledge  of  characteris- 
tics is  gained  by  acquaintance.  If  I  wish  to  know  what  sort 
of  a  man  one  is,  I  need  to  know  him,  to  associate  with  him, 


124  .    Getting  Things  From  God 

to  hear  what  he  says,  to  see  what  he  does,  so  with  God  if 
I  become  acquainted  with  Him,  learn  what  His  character  is, 
it  will  be  natural  for  me  to  trust  Him,  for  He  is  trust- 
worthy. Acquaintance  with  the  unreliable,  uncertain,  un- 
truthful, breeds  doubt.  We  do  not  trust  such  persons  even 
when  they  say  what  is  true,  do  what  is  right,  but  persons 
of  integrity,  of  character,  of  righteousness,  these  people 
always  awaken  faith  when  we  come  to  know  them  and  so 
we  must  do  as  the  Word  says,  acquaint  ourselves  with  God. 
Then  we  shall  be  at  peace  with  Him. 


Chapter  VII 

"ALWAYS  TO  PRAY,  AND 
NOT  TO  FAINT" 


FOREWORD 

"What  we  have  said  about  deliverance  from  the  sin 
of  prayerlessness  has  also  application,  as  answer^  to  the 
question:  'How  may  the  experience  of  deliverance  be 
maintained?'  Redemption  is  not  granted  to  us  piece- 
meal, or  as  something  of  which  we  may  make  use  from 
time  to  time.  It  is  bestowed  as  a  fullness  of  grace  stored 
up  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  which  may  be  enjoyed  in  a  new 
fellowship  with  Him  every  day.  It  is  so  necessary  that 
this  great  truth  should  be  driven  home  and  fastened  in 
our  minds,  that  I  will  once  more  mention  It.  Nothing 
can  preserve  you  from  carelessness,  or  make  it  possible 
for  you  to  persevere  in  living,  powerful  prayer,  but  a 
daily  close  fellowship  with  Jesus  our  Lord. 

"He  said  to  His  disciples:  'Ye  believe  in  God,  believe 
also  in  me.  *  *  *  Believe  me  that  I  am  In  the  Father, 
and  the  Father  In  me.  *  *  *  He  that  believeth  on  me, 
the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also,  and  greater  works 
than  these  shall  he  do'  (John  14:1,  11,  12). 

"The  Lord  wished  toi  teach  His  disciples  that  all  they 
had  learned  from  the  Old  Testament  concerning  the 
power  and  holiness  and  love  of  God  must  now  be  trans- 
ferred to  Him.  They  must  not  believe  merely  In  certain 
written  documents,  but  in  Him  personally.  They  must 
believe  that  He  was  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in 
Him,  in  such  a  sense  that  they  had  one  life,  one  glory. 
All  that  they  knew  about  Christ,  they  would  find  in  God." 
•—Andrew  Murray, 


CHAPTER  VII 

"ALWAYS   TO    PRAY,  AND   NOT   TO   FAINT" 

/  /  "■"  "1"  E  spake  a  parable  unto  them  to  this  end,  that 
I  I  men  ought  always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint" 
-*"  -*■  (Luke  18:1).  It  is  clear  that  we  are  dealing 
here  with  the  duty  of  perseverance  and  it  is  w^U  known  to  all 
those  who  have  either  thought  or  observed,  that  this  is  a  point 
where  many  of  us  break  down.  It  is  easy  to  be  discour- 
aged and  God  oftentimes  delays  answers  to  prayer  because 
He  wishes  us  to  learn  to  trust  Him  in  the  dark,  to  believe 
when  we  cannot  see.  Do  not  earthly  parents  do  the  same? 
Who  is  there  who  is  wise  with  his  children  who  has  not  at 
times  waited  to  bestow  some  good  gift  which  he  had  already 
willed,  in  order  that  his  children  might  learn  to  confide? 
What  difference  can  it  make  to  the  Almighty  whether  He 
bestows  a  good  gift  upon  me  at  one  time  or  another? 

God's  resources  are  infinite,  so  also  is  His  wisdom  and  love. 
W^hy  should  He  then  delay?  That  He  does  we  all  know; 
that  He  intended  to,  the  teaching  of  Jesus  clearly  evidences. 
"Men  ought  always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint."  I  have  had 
friends  who  said :  "I  do  not  think  we  ought  to  ask  God  for 
the  same  thing  repeatedly.  He  knows  whether  it  is  best 
for  us  to  have  it  or  not.  He  wnll  surely  do  what  is  best. 
Why  not,  therefore,  simply  remind  Him  of  our  need  and 
then  wait?"  The  objection  to  this  teaching  is  that  it  is 
contrary  to  the  word  of  Jesus  Christ  on  the  same  subject. 

In  Luke,  the  eleventh  chapter,  our  Lord  is  giving  par- 
227 


J28  '    Getting  Things  From  God 

ticular  Instructions  in  regard  to  prayer.  He  deals  with  this 
very  question  of  repetition  in  the  verses  5  to  13,  and  He 
clearly  intimates  that  God  will  bestow  good  gifts  upon  men 
who  persevere  in  praj'^er  which  He  will  not  bestow  on  peo- 
ple who  do  not  persevere  in  prayer.  The  man  in  the  story 
came  to  his  neighbor  for  bread.  It  was  inconvenient  to  sup- 
ply it  and  the  neighbor  declined,  but  because  of  his  importun- 
ity our  Lord  says  he  will  rise  and  give  him  as  m.any  as  he 
needs  (Luke  11:8).  Then  he  goes  on  to  say:  "Ask,  and 
it  shall  be  given  you;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find,"  and  I  think 
it  is  not  by  accident  that  He  unites  the  prayer  of  importunity 
with  the  promise  to  prayer. 

Seven  Years,  or  Fifteen  Years 
In  one  of  our  church  prayer-meetings  not  long  ago,  a 
lady  rose  and  said:  "My  father  is  a  drunkard.  I  have 
prayed  seven  years  that  God  would  save  him  and  he  is  not 
saved.  It  seems  as  if  God  did  not  hear  or  did  not  care  and 
I  am  discouraged.  I  do  not  know  what  to  do.'*  She  had 
only  taken  her  seat  when  a  lady  rose  and  said:  "My  father 
was  a  drunkard  fifteen  years  and  I  prayed  for  him  all 
through  those  fifteen,  years.  Then  he  was  saved,  not  alone 
from  drink,  but  from  all  other  sins.  Now  for  fifteen  years 
he  has  been  a  happy  Christian.  I  think  my  sister  ought  not  to 
be  discouraged,  but  to  pray  on."  This  is  only  one  instance 
of  many,  but  it  was  very  impressive  because  of  the  two 
testimonies  which  came  one  after  the  other. 

The  case  of  Mr.  Miiller's  two  friends  is  so  often  men- 
tioned and  so  widely  known,  that  I  feel  like  apologizing  for 
mentioning  it  here;  but  It  was  so  remarkable  an  instance  of 
this  kind  that  I  cannot  well  omit  It.   I  heard  Mr.  Miiller  say 


** Always  to  Pray,  and  Not  to  Faint**  I2g 

in  his  address  in  Farwell  Hall,  Chicago:  "I  have  prayed  for 
two  men  by  name  every  day  for  thirty-five  years;  on  land  or 
sea,  sick  or  well,  I  have  remembered  them  before  God  by 
name,  requesting  their  salvation.  They  are  both  living; 
they  are  neither  of  them  saved,  but  I  shall  continue  to  pray 
for  them  daily,  by  name,  until  they  are  saved,  or  die." 

It  is  related  by  a  friend  who  wrote  of  his  life,  after 
his  death,  that  just  about  that  time  there  were  two  persons 
for  whom  Mr.  Miiller  had  prayed  daily  for  sixty-two  years, 
who  were  converted.  I  did  not  know  the  names  in  either 
case  so  I  cannot  say  that  these  two  for  whom  he  prayed 
sixty-two  years  were  the  two  to  whom  he  referred  in  the 
address  which  I  mentioned.  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  w^ere. 
It  would  seem  improbable  that  there  should  be  more  than 
one  case  of  that  kind.  Do  not,  however,  lose  the  thought. 
Here  was  a  man  praying  every  day  for  sixty-two  years  for 
the  salvation  of  two  men  before  they  were  saved.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  they  were  saved.  What  a  lesson  that  is 
for  us.  What  a  reproof  for  our  lack  of  perseverance.  What 
an  encouragement  to  continue  in  prayer.  **Men  ought 
always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint." 

Another  Case 

I  do  not  wish  to  produce  the  impression  that  my  own 
experiences  are  more  numerous  or  more  valuable  than  those 
of  other  persons,  but  it  is  natural  that  one  should  know  his 
own  life  story  better  than  that  of  other  people,  and  further, 
one  cannot  testify  directly  to  any  experience  except  his  own. 
It  is  one  thing  to  say:  ''Somebody  told  me,"  and  it  is  another 
thing  to  say:  ''This  was  my  experience." 

North  of  our  college  campus,  some  years  ago,  there  stood 
an  old   frame  building.      It  was  not  particularly   valuable 


750  '    Getting  Things  From  God 

in  itself  but  the  land  upon  which  it  stood  was  very  valuable. 
One  of  our  honored  trustees,  Dr.  R.  J.  Bennett,  purchased 
the  house  and  the  land  and  gave  them  to  the  college.  This 
bit  of  land  constituted  about  one-third  of  the  block  of  w^hich 
it  was  a  part.  Two-thirds  remained.  One  portion  of  this 
two-thirds  was  owned  in  New  York,  the  other  in  Nebraska. 
It  was  obvious  to  anyone  who^  looked  at  the  land  situation, 
that  the  possession  of  that  strip  would  be  very  helpful  to  the 
college.  It  was  adjacent  and  was  much  to  be  desired  for  a 
number  of  reasons. 

I  asked  friends  who  owned  it  to  give  it  to  the  college. 
They  declined  to  do  so.  I  repeated  the  request  after  an 
interval  of  years  and  still  they  felt  that  it  was  more  than 
they  could  do.  At  last  I  began  to  pray  that  the  Lord  would 
give  us  the  land.  At  times  I  left  the  walk  and  stood  upon 
the  ground,  reminding  myself  that  God  had  promised  Israel 
what  the  soles  of  his  feet  trod  upon.  I  reminded  God  of  this 
same  promise  and  as  well  as  I  could,  claimed  by  faith  this 
land  for  the  institution.  Still  it  did  not  come.  Years  passed 
into  other  years.  No  one  purchased  the  ground.  It  was 
good  ground,  beautifully  located.  It  would  have  been  a 
very  pleasant  place  for  residences,  yet  there  it  lay,  unoccu- 
pied. Finally,  the  parties  who  owned  the  New  York  strip 
directed  their  agent  to  make  sale.  He  put  it  on  the  market, 
intending  to  force  the  sale  for  what  he  could  get.  Special 
assessments  were  high,  and  were  to  be  increased.  I  said  to 
the  owner:  "What  will  you  let  us  have  that  land  for?"  He 
said:  "For  so  much."  I  went  to  a  generous  friend  who 
had  made  us  debtor  many  times,  and  said  to  her:  "For  about 
two  thousand  dollars  we  can  secure  this  property,  which  is 
admirably  located,  and  which  we  really  need."  She  at  once 
said:  "I    think  I  can    furnish    the    money    within  a    few 


** Always  to  Pray,  and  Not  to  Faint'*  131 

months."     She  did  and  that  portion  of  the  land  came  into 
our  possession. 

Still  there  was  the  remaining  one-third.  It  lay  between 
the  other  two  and  it  was  for  sale.  The  parties  who  owned 
it  wished  to  sell  it  and  I  desired  it  for  the  college.  I  thanked 
God  many  times  for  the  two  pieces  which  He  had  given  and 
asked  Him  for  the  third  piece.  Nobody  bought  it.  There 
it  lay, — beautiful  land,  desirably  located,  to  be  purchased 
for  a  moderate  price,  yet  it  was  held.  Finally  the  owner 
made  us  a  proposition,  which,  without  the  expenditure  of 
any  money  on  our  part,  would  enable  us  to  secure  the  land. 
We  did  secure  it.  It  is  now  a  part  of  the  college  possession. 
The  legal  transactions  are  not  entirely  complete,  for  one 
of  the  owners  was  not  living  and  there  were  necessary  pro- 
ceedings in  court,  but  the  transaction  is  practically  concluded 
and  the  whole  property  is  ours,  not  for  our  own  uses  but 
for  the  instruction  of  young  people  through  all  the  years 
until  the  Lord  comes,  and  for  a  part  in  His  work  during 
the  millennial  years. 

A  Glance  Backward 
I  would  like  all  w^ho  are  reading  this  chapter,  if  they 
have  not  read  what  precedes,  to  glance  over  the  story  of 
the  wife  who  remained  on  her  knees  thirteen  hours  by  the 
side  of  a  husband  apparently  dead,  until  he  opened  his  eyes 
and  went  home  with  her,  and  I  would  be  glad,  also,  if  they 
would  read  the  story  of  George  Miiller's  two  friends,  for 
whom  he  prayed  sixty-two  years.  Perhaps  these  stories  would 
more  fittingly  have  come  into  this  chapter  but  I  was  remind- 
ed of  them  at  the  time  that  I  was  waiting  the  chapters  in 
which  they  occur.  They  are  so  true  and  so  blessed  that 
really  they  would  fit  anywhere,  so  let  me  content  myself 


1^2  Getting  Things  From  God 


with  this  reference  and  urge  all  who  do  not  have  those 
narratives  well  in  mind,  to  become  familiar  with  them,  fof 
they  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  subject  which  is 
before  us. 

Answers  Delayed 

The  most  remarkable  instance  of  delayed  answers  to 
prayer  which  has  come  under  my  own  observation  v/as  sug- 
gested by  Mr.  Moody  in  a  sermon  which  he  preached  many 
years  ago.  He  called  our  attention  to  the  fact  that  when 
Moses  was  praying  for  the  privilege  of  going  over  Jordan 
into  the  promised  land,  the  Lord  did  not  tell  him  that  he 
could  not  go  over  the  river.  He  said  to  him  when  the 
request  was  pressed:  "Speak  no  more  to  me  of  this  matter." 
That  was  not  a  refusal — that  was  a  direction.  Fifteen  hun- 
dred years  later  Moses  was  in  the  Holy  Land  with  Elijah, 
talking  with  our  Lord  about  the  work  which  He  was  to 
accomplish  at  Jerusalem.  He  did  not  cross  over  Jordan, 
as  God  told  him  he  would  not.  He  did  go  into  the  Holy 
Land,  as  he  prayed  that  he  might,  but  he  went  by  way  of 
heaven. 

Mr.  Moody  was  speaking  in  this  sermon  of  God's  deter- 
mination to  answer  prayer.  I  cannot  remember  the  words 
which  he  said,  but  I  remember  very  distinctly  the  impression 
which  the  facts  produced.  It  was  so  wonderful  to  think 
that  God  should  keep  the  prayer  of  Moses  before  Him  all 
those  1500  years,  and  when  He  was  to  send  down  to  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration  two  redeemed  ones  to  talk  with 
His  Son  about  the  death  which  He  was  to  die  for  their  sins 
and  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  He  selected  Moses  and 
Elijah.  It  is  my  firm  conviction  that  the  Lord's  people,  if 
they  will  inquire  among  their  friends  who  are  spiritually 


"Always  to  Pray,  and  Not  to  Faint"  155 

minded  folk,  will  be  astounded  at  the  number  of  cases  in 
which  God  has  answered  prayer  after  long  delay.  As  I  have 
said  before,  this  has  not  happened  so  and  It  is  not  the  result 
of  any  inability  on  the  part  of  God.  He  can  work  His 
own  will  at  His  own  pleasure  and  in  His  own  time.  I 
heard  the  president  of  a  university  once  say  that  God  could 
use  foolish  people  to  accomplish  His  purpose,  but  that  He 
never  did  so  voluntarily.  I  was  startled  as  I  thought  of 
the  words  of  the  Bible:  "God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things 
of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise;  and  God  hath  chosen 
the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  things  which 
are  mighty;  and  base  things  of  the  v/orld,  and  things  which 
are  despised,  hath  God  chosen,  yea,  and  things  which  are 
not,  to  bring  to  nought  things  that  are"  (1  Ccr.  1  :27,28). 
God  does  choose  the  Instruments  which  He  uses.  He 
does  not  take  them  from  necessity.  He  takes  them  because 
of  His  own  choice  and  God  does  not  answer  prayer  after 
fifteen  hundred  years,  or  after  seven  years,  or  after  fifteen 
years,  or  after  sixty-two  years  because  He  could  not  answer 
in  as  many  months  if  It  pleased  Him.     There  Is  a  reason. 

The  Reason 

It  Is  safe  to  say  that  in  a  majority  of  instances  of  long 
delay,  God  has  a  number  of  purposes  to  accomplish.  In  the 
first  place,  it  is  a  test  of  our  own  faith  and  obedience.  He 
tells  us  always  to  pray  and  not  to  faint.  Delays  in  answers 
to  prayer  are  one  means  of  testing  us  to  know  whether  we 
can  do  this  or  not.  It  is  also  a  wonderful  confirmation  of 
faith  when  the  answer  does  come.  If  I  receive  a  gift,  after 
praying  for  it  for  ten  years,  my  mind  is  impressed  very 
differently  from  what  it  would  be  if  I  received  the  same 
gift  after  praying  only  ten  minutes. 


1^4  '      Getting  Things  From  God 

We  shall  never  understand  God's  dealings  with  us  here 
unless  we  remember  that  we  came  Into  the  kingdom  of  God 
as  babes  and  that  He  has  to  educate  us,  train  us,  raise  us 
(if  you  allow  the  expression)  precisely  as  parents  have  to 
train,  educate,  raise  children.  We  are  children  and  He  is 
our  Father.  He  Is  the  Creator  of  our  bodies  but  He  Is  the 
Father  of  our  souls  and  He  wishes  us  to  be  strong  and  pure 
and  holy  and  useful,  just  as  any  good  father  wishes  his 
children  to  be.  To  this  end  He  disciplines  and  one  of  the 
ways  In  which  He  disciplines  Is  by  delaying  answer  to  prayer. 

I  was  in  New  York  some  years  ago,  calling  upon  an  old 
friend,  a  graduate  of  Knox  College  during  my  father's  presi- 
dency there.  In  an  adjoining  room  lay  the  daughter,  long 
sick,  at  that  time  supposed  to  be  near  to  death.  I  had  prayer 
with  her  and  was  glad  that  God  seemed  to  show  mercies  to 
her  In  her  poor,  wrecked  and  tormented  body.  For  some 
little  time  it  looked  as  If  she  might  recover,  though  I  do 
not  believe  this  was  the  plan  of  God.  The  next  year 
when  I  was  In  New  York  I  found  that  she  had  died.  A 
friend  who  was  Intimate  with  the  family  said  to  me  that 
was  very  terrible  about  her  dying, — that  a  friend  came  to 
the  room,  praj^ed  for  her  and  said:  "God,  you  have  promised 
to  answer  prayer  and  we  have  complied  with  all  the  con- 
ditions; we  command  you  to  heal  this  sick  one."  I  did  not 
wonder  that  she  died;  I  wondered  that  the  person  who 
offered  the  prayer  did  not  die.  Except  that  she  was  Igno- 
rant and  God  could  pardon  her,  It  seemed  to  me  that  He 
would  certainly  have  struck  her  dead  then  and  there. 

God  Takes  No  Instructions  From  Men 
God   does  not  permit  men   to  give  Him   orders.     "He 
sits  on  no  precarious  throne,  nor  borrows  leave  to  be"  and 


** Always  to  Pray^  and  Not  to  Faint  ^  755 

He  does  not  wish  to  have  people  say  that  they  command 
Him.  I  do  not  think  that  He  cares  to  hear  us  say  that  we 
have  complied  with  all  the  conditions  of  successful  prayer. 
I  am  certain  He  wishes  us  to  do  this  and  I  am  certain  that 
when  we  do  it,  He  knows  it  and  is  satisfied,  and  I  am  quite 
sure  He  docs  not  require  us  to  tell  Him  that  since  we  have 
complied  with  the  conditions,  it  is  time  for  Him  to  fulfill 
His  word.  This  seems  a  frightful  blasphemy  and  I  hope 
that  none  of  the  Lord's  children  who  read  these  words  will 
ever  be  guilty  of  so  offending  against  the  Majesty  of  heaven. 
A  sensible  person  preferring  a  request  to  an  earthly  mon- 
arch would  never  think  of  doing  so  in  such  insulting  and 
outrageous  terms.  Is  it  not  strange  that  our  brothers  and 
sisters  can  sometimes  insult  God  by  addressing  Him  as  they 
would  never  dare  to  speak  to  a  human  being  ? 

George  Miiller  Again 
I  remember  hearing  George  Miiller  say  when  he  was 
telling  us  about  praying  for  those  two  men  thirty-five  years, 
that  it  happened  in  the  providence  of  God  that  the  first 
persons  he  spoke  with  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  after  his  ow^n 
conversion,  were  very  quickly  saved.  On  one  occasion  two 
young  men  laughed  when  he  spoke  to  them  on  the  subject. 
He  went  into  his  bedroom  adjacent,  fell  on  his  knees  and 
with  tears  begged  God  to  save  those  two  young  men.  When 
he  came  out,  they  were  both  of  them  ready  to  submit  to 
God.  He  said  that  he  received  the  impression  that  everybody 
that  he  spoke  to  or  prayed  for  would  be  immediately  con- 
verted and  that  when  he  began  to  pray  one  year,  two  years, 
three  years,  four  years,  five  years,  for  the  same  person,  with 
no  apparent  result,  he  was  surprised  and  a  bit  disheartened, 


1^6  Getting  Things  From  God 

but  he  reflected  that  God's  promise  was  not  to  answer  In  five 
minutes,  or  five  years,  or  fifty  years,  but  to  answer, — that 
it  was  his  part  to  believe  and  to  continue  making  request 
and  that  if  he  did  this,  God  would  certainly  fulfill  His  part 
of  the  contract,  so  he  said :  "I  lost  the  feeling  of  disappoint- 
ment which  I  had  had  and  was  encouraged  to  lay  hold  on 
God  patiently,  perseveringly  every  day  until  the  answer 
came." 

The  Garden  Prayers 

In  this  connection  I  think  it  Is  helpful  to  remember 
about  our  Lord's  praying  In  Gethsemane.  He  prayed  once. 
He  prayed  twice,  He  prayed  the  third  time,  and  it  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  the  Word  says,  in  speaking  of  these  re- 
peated petitions,  "saying  the  same  words"  (Matt.  26:44). 
How  can  one  reconcile  this  fact  with  the  teaching  of  some 
who  say  that  when  we  have  once  proffered  a  petition,  it  is 
an  exhibition  of  distrust  or  rebellious  spirit  If  we  make  the 
same  request  again.  I  do  not  believe  that  this  Is  true.  Had 
it  been,  certainly  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  never  have 
prayed  three  times,  saying  the  same  words  each  time.  The 
fact  is  that  we  must  be  taught  by  the  Spirit  how  to  pray. 
Sometimes  He  will  teach  us  to  pray  once  and  to  look  upon 
the  transaction  as  completed.  Sometimes  He  will  bid  us  pray 
more  than  once  and  when  He  does  so,  we  must  persevere 
in  prayer.     "Men  ought  always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint." 

I  remember  that  my  father  once  visited  a  dying  man  in 
the  city  of  Cincinnati,  where  he  w^as  pastor  of  the  Sixth 
Presbyterian  Church.  The  dying  man  had  great  difficulty  in 
speaking,  In  fact  could  scarcely  speak  at  all.  My  father 
asked  him  If  he  would  like  him  to  pray,  and  he  nodded  his 
head  affirmatively.     My  father  said  to  him:  "Shall  I  pray 


"Always  to  Pray,  and  Not  to  Faint**  757 

for  your  wife  and  children?"  and  he  shook  his  head  nega- 
tively, and  then  gathering  up  what  strength  he  had,  said: 
"Yesterday  I  prayed  for  them."  Yesterday,  in  other  words, 
he  had  closed  that  transaction  with  God  and  he  did  not 
wish  to  re-open  it.  He  had  prayed  for  those  dear  people 
once;  he  knew  God  had  heard  him  and  would  answer  in  due 
time.  In  his  bodily  frailty  his  faith  was  strong  and  he  did 
not  care  to  pray  twice  when  he  believed  he  had  already 
the  answer  of  God. 

V7hen  I  Prayed  for  a  Friend 
I  have  had  that  same  experience,  not  as  a  dying  experi- 
ence, but  as  a  living  one.  I  was  years  ago  very  much  bur- 
dened for  a  friend.  I  prayed  repeatedly  that  the  Lord  would 
do  a  certain  thing  for  that  friend.  At  last  it  seemed 
to  me  that  God  said  to  me  by  His  Spirit:  "You  leave  that 
matter  with  me  and  I  will  take  care  of  it."  I  did  so.  I 
have  never  prayed  that  prayer  since,  so  far  as  I  know. 
Sometimes  I  have  thought  of  doing  so  and  almost  began  to 
pray  and  then  it  has  come  to  me  that  that  is  a  completed 
transaction  between  God  and  me,  so  I  have  stopped  and 
thanked  Him  that  He  has  accepted  my  petition,  that  He 
would  answer  my  prayer,  and  I  have  left  that  miatter  defi- 
nitely in  His  hands.  It  is  blessed  to  do  so  and  from  time 
to  time  remind  Him  that  He  has  promised  and  that  I  know 
He  will  fulfill  my  petition  in  His  own  time. 

I  have  had  that  same  experience  about  erecting  build- 
ings. I  have  thanked  God  for  them;  I  have  seen  them  in 
my  mind  fully  completed,  standing  fair  and  beautiful  on 
the  ground,  when  not  a  shovelful  of  earth  had  been  turned, 
when  not  a  brick  or  stone  had  been  laid. 


1^8  '       Getting  Things  From  God 

If  I  am  speaking  to  those  who  have  been  burdened  be- 
cause of  unanswered  prayer,  and  I  do  not  doubt  there  are 
some  such  among  those  who  will  read  these  pages,  let  me 
encourage  you.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  unanswered 
prayer  in  this  world,  but  there  are  prayers,  the  answers  to 
which  are  long  delayed.  It  is  well  that  it  is  so.  It  would 
harm  us  if  it  were  otherwise.  If  you  will  be  victoriously 
patient,  ygu  will  be  victoriously  successful  in  your  praying. 


PART  THREE 

WHY  DOES  GOD  ANSWER 
PRAYER  ? 


Chapter  I 
BECAUSE  HE  HAS  PROMISED  TO  DO  SO 


FOREWORD 

"How  little  this  is  understood  by  Christians!  How 
many  there  are  who  allow  themselves  to  be  misled,  and 
rest  satisfied  with  the  thought  that  sin  is  a  necessity,  that 
one  must  sin  every  day!  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  how 
great  the  harm  is  which  has  been  done  by  this  mistake. 
It  is  one  of  the  chief  causes  why  the  sin  of  disobedience 
is  so  little  recognized.  I  have  myself  heard  Christians, 
speaking  about  the  cause  of  darkness  and  weakness,  say, 
half-laughingly:  *Yes,  it  is  just  disobedience  again.'  We 
try  to  get  rid  of  a  servant  as  speedily  as  possible  who  is 
habitually  disobedient,  but  it  is  not  regarded  as  any- 
thing extraordinary  that  a  child  of  God  should  be  dis- 
obedient every  day.  Disobedience  is  daily  acknowledged, 
and  yet  there  is  no  turning  away  from  it. 

"Have  we  not  here  the  reason  why  so  much  prayer  for 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  offered,  and  yet  so  few 
answers  come?  Do  we  not  read  that  'God  has  given  His 
Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  obey  Him'.'*  Every  child  of 
God  has  received  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  he  uses  the  measure 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  he  has,  with  the  definite  pur- 
pose of  being  obedient  to  the  utmost,  then  God  can  and 
will  favor  him  with  further  manifestations  of  the  Spirit's 
power.  But  if  he  permits  disobedience  to  get  the  upper 
hand,  day  by  day,  he  need  not  wonder  if  his  prayer  for 
more  of  the  Spirit  remains  unanswered." — Andrew  Mut" 
ray. 


CHAPTER  I 
BECAUSE  HE  HAS  PROMISED  TO  DO  SO 

I  USE  another  word  from  Andrew  PJurray  as  the  mes- 
senger to  open  this  part  of  the  book,  because  I  love 
him  so  much  and  owe  him  so  great  a  debt.  There  is  an 
expression  in  this  foreword  which  all  my  readers,  who  have 
taken  in  my  spirit,  will  expect  me  to  dislike.  I  do  dislike  it. 
He  says:  **He  need  not  wonder  if  his  prayer  for  more  of 
the  Spirit  remains  unanswered."  I  do  not  object  to  this  so 
much  as  I  might,  because  I  believe  our  prayers  do  some- 
times remain  unanswered  for  a  while,  but  I  wish  in  this 
passage  he  had  said,  ''remains  unanswered  for  a  season,"  or 
something  of  that  kind,  for  I  do  not  believe  than  an  honest 
prayer  for  any  gift  w^hich  is  according  to  the  wull  of  God, 
ever  remains  permanently  unanswered;  so  much  as  a  verbal 
criticism.  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  very  important.  I  do 
not  lay  any  particular  stress  upon  it,  only  I  wish  if  it  is 
true  that  prayer  always  is  answered,  that  all  of  us  might 
come  to  believe  that  and  to  rest  upon  it  with  an  absolutely 
unshaking  faith. 

At  the  same  time  I  wish  we  all  might  remember  that  the 
times  and  the  seasons  are  in  the  hands  of  God  and  that  we 
shall  not  do  wisely  if  we  undertake  to  direct  Him  as  to  how 
or  where  or  when  to  do.  The  imperfections  of  such  a  mental 
attitude,  I  am  sure,  will  deeply  impress  any  one  who  thinks 
about  it  a  little  while. 


742  '      Getting  Things  From  God 

God  Has  Agreed  to  Answer 

But  to  return  to  my  subject.  Why  does  God  answer 
prayer?  I  imagine  that  the  first  reason  is,  that  He  may 
keep  His  word.  The  simple  fact  respecting  prayer  is, 
that  God  has  agreed  to  answer  it.  **Ask,  and  it  shall  be 
given  you;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find;  knock,  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  you."  "Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name, 
that  will  I  do."  "Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  of  the  Fatlier 
in  my  name,  he  will  give  it  to  you."  Now,  what  self- 
respecting  person  speaking  thus  to  another  and  having  abun- 
dant resources,  w^ould  fail  to  do  the  thing  that  he  had 
promised  ?  It  is  very  simple,  —  no  self-respecting  person 
would  so  fail.  Sometimes  we  humans  do  fail  to  keep  our 
promises,  not  because  we  are  careless  respecting  them,  but 
because  we  are  unable  to  make  them  good.  If  God  should 
grow  wearied,  or  His  eyes  should  become  dim,  or  in  any 
way  His  abilities  should  fail,  then  His  promises  might  fail, 
but  that  His  promises  should  fail  w^hile  His  wisdom  and 
strength  remain,  Is  simply  Impossible. 

What,  then,  is  the  attitude  which  a  person  occupies 
respecting  our  heavenly  Father  when  he  talks  about  un- 
answered prayer?  If  this  expression  means  anj^thlng  sub- 
stantial, it  means  that  actual  prayer  Is  offered.  By  actual 
prayer  I  mean  prayer  that  meets  the  conditions  on  which 
God  has  agreed  to  answer.  Nothing  else  Is  prayer.  No 
one  has  a  right  to  call  anything  else  prayer.  This  expres- 
sion, then,  means  that  prayer,  actual  prayer,  is  offered  and 
that  God  breaks  His  word.  If  these  people  would  put  In 
some  time  limitation,  if  they  would  say,  "for  a  time,"  or  use 
some  equivalent  expression,  it  would  be  better,  but  to  say 
"unanswered  prayer"  when  God's  word  is  pledged  and  al5 


Because  He  Has  Promised  to  Do  So  14^ 

the  resources  of  heaven  are  Involved  in  the  promise,  seems 
to  me  an  awful  thing  to  do. 

God  That  Cannot  Lie 

This  is  another  Scriptural  expression — "God  that  cannot 
lie."  Of  course,  this  meaning  is  not  that  there  is  a  physical, 
but  a  moral  inability.  God  could  deceive  men  if  He  wished 
to,  but  He  does  not  wish  to.  His  character  is  such  that  He 
never  will  wish  to,  so  He  describes  Himself  here  as  a  per- 
son incapable  of  falsehood, — God  that  cannot  lie. 

We  Become  Like  Our  Gods 
I  think  this  truth  has  been  more  forcefully  stated  by 
Dr.  James  B.  Walker,  in  his  "Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of 
Salvation,"  than  by  any  other  writer  with  whom  I  am  ac- 
quainted. He  argues  from  the  reason  of  the  case  and  from 
the  history  of  mankind.  It  is  natural  that  we  should  seek  to 
imitate  one  whom  we  admire,  and  this  fact  alone  shows  that 
man  must  become  like  his  gods  both  in  the  things  that  he 
does  and  in  the  things  that  he  omits.  We  are  prone  to  follow 
those  whom  we  love.  When  we  pass  to  the  second  evi- 
dences, that  is,  the  proofs  from  history,  we  find  that  what 
we  have  anticipated  has  been  always  true.  Worshippers  of 
Bacchus  were  drunkards.  Worshippers  of  Venus  were  un- 
clean in  their  lives.  Worshippers  of  Odin  and  Thor  loved 
to  feel  their  war  hammers  crashing  through  the  skulls  of 
enemies.  Worshippers  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  became  pure 
and  holy  in  their  lives.  From  the  nature  of  the  case  this 
must  be  so;  in  point  of  fact  it  has  always  been  true. 

The  Vices  of  Heathenism 
Missionaries  tell  us  that  among  the  heathen  there  arc 
several  vices  which  are  everywhere  practiced.     Lying,  theft 


144  '    Getting  Things  From  God 

and  impurity  are  so  common  that  one  may  call  them  uni- 
versal. On  the  other  hand,  where  the  Christian  religion  has 
prevailed,  men  become  truthful,  honest  and  pure  in  their 
lives.  This  change  from  degradation  to  nobility  of  character 
is  vi^rought  by  the  character  of  the  God  v^e  worship.  He 
cannot  lie  and  He  is  holy  and  He  requires  His  followers  to 
be  like  Himself.  This  is  the  secret  of  the  moral  life  of 
Christian  nations.  There  may  be  a  hundred  other  reasons 
for  answering  prayer,  but  one,  which  is  all-sufficient,  is  the 
fact  that  God  has  promised  to  do  so. 

I  have  before  this  referred  to  Dr.  Biederwolf's  book  on 
the  subject:  "How  Can  God  Ansv/er  Prayer?"  It  would 
be  a  much  more  difficult  question,  "How  can  God  fail  to 
answer  prayer?"  Having  promised.  He  must  make  His 
promise  good  or  falsify  His  own  character.  This  He  can- 
not do  because  of  His  nature. 

Thirty  Thousand  Promises 
I  have  never  tried  to  count  the  promises  in  the  Bible. 
Someone  who  professes  to  have  done  so  says  there  are  more 
than  thirty  thousand.  This  seems  a  very  large  num^ber.  My 
impression  is  that  it  is  too  small  rather  than  too  large,  and 
among  these  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises,  there  is 
probably  no  one  so  frequently  repeated  as  the  promise  to 
hear  and  answer  prayer.  The  expression  "a  prayer-hearing 
and  a  prayer-answering  God"  is  one  of  the  most  common 
among  Christian  people  in  their  gatherings  for  worship. 
There  are  other  characteristics  which  might  be  ascribed  to 
the  Divine,  but  this  one  seems  especially  apt  in  a  case  like  the 
one  under  consideration. 

When  we  meet  to  speak  together  of  God's  relation  to 
our  needs,  it  is  natural  that  we  should  think  of  Him  as  one 


Because  He  Has  Promised  to  Do  So  14$ 

who  hears  and  answers  prayer.  "Call  unto  me,  and  I  will 
answer  thee,  and  show  thee  great  and  mighty  things,  which 
thou  knowest  not"  (Jer.  33:3).  "Fear  thou  not,  for  I  am 
with  thee :  be  not  dismayed ;  for  I  am  thy  God ;  I  will 
strengthen  thee;  yea,  I  will  help  thee;  yea,  I  will  uphold 
thee  with  the  right  hand  of  my  righteousness"  (Isa.  41  :10). 
These  are  only  illustrations  of  what  is  one  of  the  most 
marked  characteristics  of  the  Word  of  God. 

An  Excellent  Medicine 

An  age  or  land  in  which  the  Bible  is  neglected  will  be 
a  time  when,  or  a  country  where,  all  sorts  of  evils  prevail.  I 
knew  of  a  physician  who  was  visited  by  a  lady,  greatly  ex- 
cited, much  cast  down,  who  said  to  him:  "Doctor,  I  do  not 
know  what  the  trouble  is,  but  I  am  in  misery.  Please  find 
out  what  the  matter  is  and  give  me  something."  He  looked 
at  her  steadily  for  a  moment  and  said :  "You  go  home  and 
read  the  Bible  an  hour  every  day  for  thirty  days.  Then 
come  and  see  me."  She  said :  "I  suppose  you  think  I  am  a 
heathen."  He  said :  "No,  I  do  not  think  you  are  a  heathen. 
I  think  you  are  a  poor,  sick,  tired  woman.  You  go  home 
and  read  the  Bible  an  hour  a  day  for  thirty  days,  and  then 
come  and  see  me." 

At  first  indignant  and  resolved  that  she  would  pay  no 
attention  to  his  prescription,  her  better  mind  came  as  she 
went  along  and  she  said  to  herself:  "The  medicine  is  cheap. 
I  will  try  it."  Arriving  at  her  home,  she  arranged  matters 
and  settled  down  to  read.  She  knew  that  an  hour  was 
longer  than  she  had  generally  read  the  Bible  at  one  time,  so 
she  read  longer  than  usual.  She  glanced  up  at  the  clock  at 
the  expiration  of  what  she  felt  sure  was  an  hour,  and  found 
that  she  had  been  reading  just  ten  minutes.     This  startled 


146  '     Getting  Things  From  God 

her,  for  she  was  at  heart  a  good  woman,  and  she  said  to 
herself:  "I  will  not  make  that  mistake  again.  I  will  be 
sure  to  read  an  hour  before  I  stop."  So  she  glanced  at  the 
clock  and  started  again. 

When  she  felt  sure  that  she  had  read  far  more  than  an 
hour,  she  glanced  again  at  the  clock  and  found  that  she  had 
been  reading  twenty-five  minutes.  This  waked  her  thor- 
oughly, and,  adjusting  herself  to  the  task,  she  read  until, 
instead  of  being  a  little  weary  and  wishing  to  stop,  she  ob- 
tained an  appetite  for  the  Word  of  God.  The  hour  was 
all  too  short  and  she  found  herself  living  in  a  new  world.  At 
the  end  of  the  month  she  reported  to  her  physician.  As  soon 
as  she  came  into  the  office,  he  said  to  her:  "Well,  madam, 
I  see  you  have  been  taking  my  medicine."  "Yes,"  she  said, 
*'I  have  been  taking  your  medicine  and  it  is  good  medicine. 
I  am  a  different  woman  from  the  one  who  came  Into  your 
office  a  month  ago."  "Yes,"*  he  replied,  "I  saw  as  soon  as 
you  came  into  the  room  that  what  you  needed  was  not  medi- 
cine nor  anything  else  that  man  could  give  or  do.  What 
you  needed  was  God.  You  have  now  come  in  touch  with 
Him.  Keep  in  touch  with  Him  and  you  will  be  well." 
In  the  Mouth  of  Two  Witnesses 

I  have  a  friend  In  Chicago,  a  praying  physician,  who  is 
very  successful  in  his  work,  has  been  throughout  a  long  and 
useful  life.  One  of  his  patients  not  long  ago  said  to  a 
friend,  so  that  It  reached  me :  "I  went  in  to  see  Dr.  Blank 
the  other  day,  and  what  do  you  think  he  did?  He  said  to 
me :  *I  wish  to  read  to  you  a  chapter  out  of  the  Bible,'  and 
he  actually  opened  the  Bible,  sat  there  and  read  to  me  a  long 
chapter  of  the  book.  It  did  me  a  lot  of  good,  too.  It  was 
very  wonderful  how  it  affected  me.  I  think  it  was  better 
than  any  of  his  medicine." 


Because  He  Has  Promised  to  Do  So  147 

It  is  the  essence  of  truth  to  harmonize  with  all  other 
truth  and  it  is  the  essence  of  error  to  harmonize  with  noth- 
ing, not  even  with  other  error.  This  is  the  trouble  with 
the  human  race, — ignorant  of  the  truth,  neglecting  or  re- 
fusing to  live  in  truth,  overwhelmed  in  the  multitude  of 
contradictions.  They  can  not  even  agree  with  themselves. 
Of  course,  they  cannot  agree  with  one  another,  and  this  is 
the  explanation  of  the  murders,  suicides,  the  insanities  which 
make  up  so  large  a  portion  of  our  daily  newspaper  report. 
If  we  could  settle  back  on  the  truthfulness  of  God,  could  for 
ourselves  aspire  also  to  this  truthfulness,  could  read  both 
His  promises  and  His  threatenings  with  unquestioning  faith, 
sure  that  He  will  do  exactly  what  He  has  said  that  He  will 
do,  we  should  then  be  In  a  fair  way  to  get  on.  We  should 
avoid  evil ;  we  should  follow  righteousness.  We  should  have 
great  comfort  and  gladness  in  our  lives.  We  should  be  help- 
ful to  other  people  and  day  by  day  we  should  grow  in  grace 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  God. 

Let  us  once  more  recall  the  fact  that  God  answers 
prayer  because  He  has  promised  to  answer  prayer,  and  that 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  will  pass  away  before  one  of  the 
words  which  He  has  spoken  will  fail. 


Chapter  II 

LOVING  HIS  OWN,  HE  LOVED  THEM 
TO  THE  END 


FOREWORD 

"It  is  true  that  Bible  prayers  in  word  and  print  are 
short,  but  the  praying  men  of  the  Bible  were  with  God 
through  many  a  sweet  and  holy  wrestling  hour.  They 
won  by  few  words  but  long  waiting.  The  prayers  Moses 
records  may  be  short,  but  Moses  prayed  to  God  with 
fastings  and  mighty  cryings  forty  days  and  nights. 

''The  statement  of  Elijah's  praying  may  be  condensed 
to  a  few  brief  paragraphs,  but  doubtless  Elijah,  who  when 
'praying  he  prayed,'  spent  many  hours  of  fiery  struggle 
and  lofty  intercourse  with  God  before  he  could,  with 
assured  boldness,  say  to  Ahab,  'There  shall  not  be  dew 
nor  rain  these  years,  but  according  to  my  word.'  The 
verbal  brief  of  Paul's  prayers  is  short,  but  Paul  'prayed 
night  and  day  exceedingly.'  The  'Lord's  Prayer'  is  a 
divine  epitome  for  infant  lips,  but  the  man  Christ  Jesus 
prayed  many  an  all-night  ere  His  work  was  done;  and 
His  all-night  and  long-sustained  devotions  gave  to  His 
work  its  finish  and  perfection,  and  to  His  character  the 
fullness  and  glory  of  its  divinity. 

"Spiritual  work  is  taxing  work,  and  men  are  loath  to 
do  it.  Praying,  true  praying,  costs  an  outlay  of  serious 
attention  and  of  time,  which  flesh  and  blood  do  not  relish. 
Few  persons  are  made  of  such  strong  fiber  that  they  will 
make  a  costly  outlay  when  surface  work  will  pass  as  well 
in  the  market." — E,  M.  Bounds, 


CHAPTER  II 

LOVING  HIS  OWN,  HE  LOVED  THEM  TO 
THE  END 

A  FRIEND  of  mine  not  long  since  said  to  me  that  he 
did  not  like  my  method  of  quoting  the  Scripture 
according  to  the  meaning  ratlier  than  exactly  in  its 
words.  He  reminded  me  of  the  friend  who  was  comment- 
ing on  a  Dutch,  or  French,  or  German  testament  and  It  is 
said  that  he  did  not  like  that  very  well  because  ever>^body 
knew  that  God  spoke  English !  There  are  reasons  for  quot- 
ing the  Scriptures  verbatim.  There  are  also  reasons  for 
quoting  according  to  the  sense.  I  like  both  methods  and 
practice  both.  I  do  not  confine  myself  to  either.  I  enjoy 
reading  the  same  verse  in  half  a  dozen  languages. 

It  helps  me  to  see  the  little  variations  in  shades  of  thought 
that  I  find  In  one  and  the  other,  and  so  when  I  am  quoting 
I  like  to  be  free  to  give  the  thought  as  w^ell  as  I  can  without 
respect  to  the  words  which  convey  that  thought  In  the  book. 
In  fact,  I  wish  that  all  people  read  the  Bible  in  the  original 
tongues.  I  have  never  myself  kept  up  my  Hebrew.  Greek 
is  easy,  because,  in  a  way,  I  have  followed  It  from  the  be- 
ginning, but  I  have  not  used  my  Hebrew  Bible  since  I  left 
the  seminary.  Occasionally  I  look  up  a  word,  but  the  lan- 
guage-has dropped  out  of  my  reach.  I  am  sorry  for  this, 
and  if  I  were  to  begin  my  life  again,  I  would  try  to  do  bet- 
ter. I  do  not  know  that  I  should  be  able  to,  for  much  of 
my  work  has  been  done  in  travel  and  I  have  not  always  had 

251 


i$2  '        Getting  Things  From  God 

access  to  my  books.  I  am  thinking,  however,  of  the  fact 
that  God  loves  men,  and  that  because  He  loves  men,  He  en- 
joys listening  to  vv^hat  they  say  and  doing  for  them  what  they 
request. 

Children  Deaf  and  Dumb 

I  do  not  know  of  a  much  greater  affliction  that  could 
come  upon  a  normal  father  and  mother  than  to  have  a 
child  born  deaf  and  dumb.  I  had  friends  once  who  had 
this  affliction  come  into  their  home.  It  was  pathetic  to  see 
how  they  fought  against  the  belief  that  it  was  true.  They 
did  not  wish  to  admit  it  even  when  one  could  see  they  felt 
certain  that  it  must  be  true.  Children  thus  afflicted  may  be 
very  gentle  and  loving.  Unquestionably,  they  would  be 
very  dear  to  fathers  and  mothers,  but  the  awful  silence  in 
the  home  where  there  is  no  voice  of  a  child  would  be  a  sort 
of  terror,  and  the  impossibility  of  taking  in  the  voice  of 
father  and  mother  would  be  a  like  sadness.  If  this  would  be 
true  even  of  human  fathers  and  mothers  and  children,  how 
greatly  it  must  be  true  of  our  heavenly  Father. 

I  think  He  often  waits  to  hear  the  cry  of  His  children 
and  that  He  sometimes  allows  them  to  come  into  circum- 
stances of  suffering,  perplexity  and  need  in  order  that  He 
may  hear  their  voices.  It  is  a  pity  that  it  should  be  needful 
for  Him  thus  to  prompt  us  to  pray, — that  it  is  needful  all 
who  will  reflect  will  understand. 

A  Broken-Hearted  Lover 

It  is  one  of  the  tragedies  of  human  life  that  sometimes 
God  seems  to  give  a  great  and  consuming  love  to  one  human 
heart  for  another  human  heart  which  cannot  respond.  At 
times  persons  doubt  or  deny  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
dying  of  a  broken  heart.     No  doubt  there  are  many  such 


Loving  His  Owuy  He  Loved  Them  to  the  End     iS3 

cases,  true  and  loyal  hearts  longing  for  a  response  that  never 
comes. 

I  was  reading  the  other  day  of  a  man  who  was  riding 
to  the  city  with  his  nephew.  The  nephew  said  to  his  uncle : 
"I  am  going  to  buy  a  few  presents  for  my  wife  and  for  my 
mother."  The  uncle  said :  "I  never  did  much  of  that.  I 
used  to  buy  candy  once  in  a  while  for  the  children  but  that 
was  all."  The  nephew  replied:  "Try  it,  uncle.  Make 
aunty  a  New  Year's  present  and  see  how  it  will  work." 
The  elder  man  dropped  into  a  quiet  mood  and  did  not  talk 
a  great  deal  as  they  finished  their  journey,  but  the  younger 
man,  having  completed  his  errand  and  going  into  a  large 
dry-goods  store  to  gather  up  an  armful  of  bundles,  found 
his  uncle  fingering  a  soft  gray  silk.  After  the  nephew  had 
aided  the  uncle  in  selecting  the  dress  pattern,  the  uncle  con- 
fided to  him  in  a  bashful  sort  of  way  that  he  had  bought 
her  a  silver  mounted  toilet  set, — brush  and  comb  and  glass — 
and  some  other  little  things,  and  said:  "I  am  almost  scared 
to  give  them  to  her."  "Well,  uncle,"  said  the  boy,  "they 
won't  hurt  her  any.  You  tell  me  how  it  worked  when  you 
get  through." 

After  the  Christmas  had  come,  the  nephew  was  calling 
upon  his  uncle  and  the  uncle  seemed  more  than  ever  embar- 
rassed and  hesitant.  Finally,  when  they  were  alone,  he  said : 
"I  put  them  on  the  bed  and  went  out  of  the  room  that  she 
might  find  them.  She  did  not  come  out  and  I  got  scared 
for  fear  that  something  had  happened,  and  when  I  went  and 
looked  through  the  door,  she  was  on  her  knees  by  the  bed, 
sobbing  over  my  gifts,  and  when  I  came  into  the  room  she 
came  to  me  and  called  me  *pa'  and  kissed  me."  It  is  un- 
fortunate and  not  an  uncommon  thing  that  good  people  who 
really  love  one  another  should  love  thus  without  the  ex- 


j$4  Getting  Things  From  God 

pression  of  affection  until  it  is  too  late, — flowers  on  the 
coffin  so  many  times  where  there  are  no  flowers  in  the  life- 
time. 

Why  Has  God  Made  the  World  So  Beautiful? 

Why  are  the  blossoms  of  the  crab-apple  so  delicate  in 
tint,  compared  with  those  of  the  pear  tree?  Why  do  we 
have  the  variety  that  there  is  in  tulips,  lilies,  carnations, 
roses,  and  the  like, — the  endless  profusion  of  beauty  in 
heaven  above  and  in  the  earth  beneath?  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  God  loves  the  beautiful  Himself  and  that  He  has 
created  a  love  for  the  beautiful  things  and  that  He  has  sup- 
plied the  beautiful  because  He  knows  that  His  children 
love  it. 

So  About  Answers  to  Prayer 

No  one  person,  young  or  old,  will  read  these  words 
who  is  not  dear  to  the  heart  of  God.  And  even  if  he  is 
living  in  sin,  still  he  is  dear  to  the  heart  of  God.  Jesus 
Christ  left  His  throne  in  heaven  and  came  to  this  world 
to  live  the  humble,  self-denying  life  that  He  lived,  and  died 
a  shameful,  agonizing  death  on  the  cross,  and  He  lay  in  a 
cave  in  the  world  which  He  Himself  had  made,  because 
He  loved  the  person  who  reads  these  lines.  He  is  a  change- 
less One.  He  loves  men  now  as  well  as  He  did  two  thou- 
sand years  ago  and  He  will  love  them  two  thousand  years 
hence  as  truly  and  with  as  Godlike  fervor  as  He  loves  them 
now.  It  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  affection  that  it 
seeks  to  supply  needed  good  and  seeks  to  ward  off  threaten- 
ing evil  from  the  loved  being.  This  is  an  explanation  of 
the  fact  that  God  makes  so  many  promises  to  prayer  and 
keeps  them  all.  ^ 

My  youngest  girl  was  happily  born.     I  remember  when 


Loving  His  Owriy  He  Loved  Them  to  the  End     i$$ 

she  was  four  or  five  years  of  age  that  she  would  run  from 
one  end  of  a  long  room  to  the  other,  stopping  a  moment, 
jump  UD  and  down  four  or  five  times,  say:  "Oh,  I  am  so 
happy!  Oh,  I  am  so  happy!"  run  as  fast  as  she  could  to  the 
farther  end  of  the  room,  jump  again,  and  say:  "Oh,  I  am 
so  happy!  Oh,  I  am  so  happy!"  Perhaps  this  sort  of 
gladness  is  a  peculiar  possession  of  childhood.  My  im- 
pression is  that  it  is  found  more  frequently  among  young 
children  than  among  persons  who  are  older.  Even  when 
men  and  women  are  as  glad  as  she,  the  realities  of  life  give 
a  more  sober  tone  than  to  the  expression  of  the  child.  This 
is  natural  and  we  w^ould  not  wish  it  to  be  otherwise,  but  be- 
yond question,  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  every  one  of  His 
children  should  be  glad. 

The  sadness,  the  tears,  the  cries  of  pain  that  occasionally 
shock  our  own  ears  sadden  also  the  heart  of  God  and  when 
He  sees  His  children  happy  and  glad,  I  know  that  He  is 
pleased.  When  He  finds  them  grieved  and  sad,  I  am  sure 
He  desires  to  administer  the  help  which  will  make  them  as 
pleased  as  He  would  gladly  see  them. 

Physical  Needs 

These  bodies  of  ours  are  of  the  earth  and  time.  I  do 
not  remember  who  it  is,  but  someone  says:  "When  we  be- 
gin to  live,  we  begin  to  die."  This  is  not  exactly  true,  but 
there  is  truth  in  it. 

A  friend  of  mine,  who  is  an  interne  in  a  hospital,  re- 
cently said  to  me:  "In  our  hospital  men,  vv^omen  and  little 
children  are  dying  every  day,  and  it  is  pitiful  to  see  in  how 
many  ways  death  comes  upon  them."  My  own  daughter 
was  night  superintendent  at  a  great  hospital  and  I  one  time 
said  to  her:     "How  do  people  feel  when  they  come  to  the 


i$6  '       Getting  Things  From  God 

hospitals?"  "Oh,  papa,"  she  replied,  "before  they  come  to 
the  hospital  they  have  suffered  so  long  and  suffered  so  much 
that  they  do  not  think  much  of  anything.  They  are  a  bit 
afraid  but  they  hope  that  some  way  or  other  they  may  be 
helped."  I  have  myself,  though  not  living  a  life  which  has 
brought  me  more  than  is  common  In  touch  with  physical 
suffering,  seen  enough  of  It  to  break  my  heart,  and  one  of 
the  things  which  drives  men  to  prayer  Is  physical  need. 
Aches  and  pains,  wasting,  mutilation,  Impending  death, — 
these  are  the  things  which  drive  men  to  God  and  God  sym- 
pathizes with  these  sufferings  and  seeks  to  relieve  them  so  far 
as  possible  without  spiritual  injury  to  those  who  pray. 

God  has  placed  in  the  world  remedies  which  naturally 
counteract  every  disease  under  which  men  suffer.  He  has 
given  men  skill  to  ascertain  these  remedies  and  to  use  them 
for  the  relief  of  suffering,  and  In  tens  of  thousands  of  In- 
stances where  human  skill  was  unavailing,  or  where  natural 
remedies  failed.  He  has  directly  entered  into  the  ph3^slcal 
lives  of  men  to  rebuke  diseases,  to  rebuke  diseases  of  the 
most  serious  sort  and  to  heal  those  who  were  sick.  The 
most  careless  reader^  of  the  New  Testament  has  observed 
the  fact  that  the  healing  of  bodily  ailments  was  one  of  the 
most  common  things  in  the  life  of  Jesus.  As  the  hymn 
writer  says: 

"And  burdened  ones  where'er  He  came. 
Brought  out  their  sick,  and  blind,  and  lame." 

Indeed  they  did  and  It  is  not  recorded  that  In  any  one 
instance  Jesus  said  that  the  disease  was  so  serious  or  of  so 
long  continuance  that  It  had  passed  beyond  His  power, 
and  In  no  single  Instance  did  Jesus  disregard  a  prayer  for 
physical  healing  which  the  suffering  ones  uttered  into  His 


Loving  His  Own,  He  Loved  Them  to  the  End     1^7 

car.  If  He  is  the  same  yesterday,  today  and  forever,  why 
should  he  not  answer  the  prayer  of  the  rheumatic,  the  fever- 
smitten,  the  consumptive,  the  paralytic  who  comes  to  Him, 
driven  by  their  need?  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  He  is 
doing  this  sort  of  thing  continually  and  He  says  to  physical 
sufferers  now  as  in  the  olden  day:  "Ask,  and  ye  shall  re- 
ceive, that  your  joy  may  be  full"  (John  16:24). 

The  Spiritually  Afflicted 

It  is  one  of  the  mistakes  which  Dr.  Dowie  made,  that  he 
attached  too  much  importance  to  the  healing  of  the  body. 
That  is  important,  but  it  is  not  all-important, — it  is  not  so 
important  as  that  the  spirit  be  well  and  strong.  "The  spirit 
of  a  man  will  sustain  his  infirmity;  but  a  wounded  spirit, 
who  can  bear?"  (Prov.  18:14).  That  is,  it  is  better  to 
have  a  weak  body  with  a  strong  spirit  than  to  have  a  weak 
and  wounded  spirit,  even  though  the  body  be  well.  Spirit- 
ual suffering  is  caused  at  times  by  temptations.  How  fiercely 
the  fire  burns  against  the  soul!  Temptations  of  the  flesh, 
temptations  of  the  world,  temptations  direct  from  Satan,  the 
ruler  of  hell, — these  temptations  are  so  real  oftentimes,  so 
long  continued,  that  the  soul  suffers.  As  the  Word  says: 
**Ye  are  in  heaviness  through  manifold  temptations"  (1 
Peter  1:6).  It  is  in  such  times  that  we  experience  what 
the  Psalmist  did  when  he  said:  "My  soul  cleaveth  unto  the 
dust:  quicken  thou  me  according  to  thy  word"  (Psa. 
119:25).  Wise  men  in  such  times  pray  and,  God  hears 
their  prayers.  Sometimes  He  helps  them  one  way,  sometimes 
another,  but  He  always  helps  them  if  they  really  pray. 

A  poor  fellow  who  w^as  overloaded  cried  out:  "Lord, 
lighten  my  burden,  or  strengthen  my  back."  It  was  a  wise 
prayer  for  God  sometimes  increases  our  strength  and  some- 


1^8  '      Getting  Things  From  God 

times  He  lightens  our  loads^  but  in  some  way  He  helps  us 
if  we  ask  for  help.  If  one  in  times  of  great  physical  afflic- 
tion or  times  of  great  temptation  gives  way  to  petulance, 
to  anger,  to  irritability,  and  murmurs  and  complains  against 
God,  he  increases  his  difficulty  and  deprives  himself  of  vast 
remedies,  for  God  does  not  permit  any  evil  to  come  upon 
men  without  the  hope  of  doing  them  good.  How  oftentimes 
His  father  heart  is  grieved  because  He  cannot  help  us  as  He 
would. 

Financial  Difficulties 

Another  prolific  source  of  human  sorrows  is  financial 
stress.  While  we  live  in  these  human  bodies  we  shall  need 
food,  clothing  and  shelter.  These  may  be  very  primitive  or 
they  may  be  more  elaborate,  but  they  are  always  needful, 
and  sometimes  by  our  own  fault,  sometimes  by  the  fault  of 
others,  sometimes  apparently  without  anyone's  fault,  there 
is  dire  need  and  distress  because  of  the  need.  I  think  per- 
haps quite  as  common  as  suffering  from  physical  ailment  or 
temptation  or  spiritual  difficulty,  is  suffering  from  the  lack 
of  money  and  the  things  which  money  can  procure. 

Oftentimes  those  who  suffer  are  proud  and  suffer  in 
silence.  Many  times  they  are  not  willing  to  have  their  need 
known.  Sometimes  they  are  not  willing  to  have  it  supplied, 
but  when  hunger  or  cold  grind  and  bite,  pride  is  very  apt 
to  give  way  and  even  if  It  does  not,  if  people  cannot  consent 
to  speak  to  their  fellow  men,  oftentimes  there  is  a  cry  In 
their  hearts,  if  not  in  their  voices,  after  God  and  the  ways 
in  which  God  answers  these  prayers  for  help  are  number- 
less,— sometimes  through  the  hands  and  hearts  of  others, 
sometimes  through  increased  wisdom  and  strength  on  the 
part  of  the  needy  one,  sometimes  by  providential  changes  in 


Loving  His  Own,  He  Loved  Them  to  the  End     i^g 

the  channels  of  trade,  sometimes  by  what  the  world  calls 
mere  accidents,  but  in  one  way  or  another  God  meets  the 
needs  of  men.  I  would  in  this  place  tell  of  some  of  His 
dealings  with  the  college  and  some  of  His  dealings  with  me 
personally,  but  that  I  planned  to  make  these  items  the  sub- 
ject of  the  following  chapter.  There  are,  however,  many, 
very  many  ways. 

A  Merchant  Caught  Short 

I  read  not  long  ago  of  a  merchant  who  was  caught  w^ith 
a  large  amount  of  paper  in  the  banks  at  a  time  when  mak- 
ing loans  was  nearly  or  quite  impossible.  He  went  to  the 
banks  with  which  he  had  extensive  dealings  and  without  ex- 
ception the  officers  said  to  him  that  they  were  withdrawing 
credits,  not  extending  them,  and  that  they  could  not  let  him 
have  a  dollar.  Heavy-hearted,  he  went  to  his  home  and  his 
wife,  meeting  him  at  the  door,  said  to  him:  "Why,  hus- 
band, are  you  sick?"  "No,"  he  said,  "I  am  not  sick,  but  we 
are  ruined."  "What  is  the  matter?"  said  she,  and  he  related 
the  facts  as  I  have  stated  them  before.  She  smiled  when  he 
had  completed  his  story  and  said  to  him:  "Is  that  all?" 
"All?"  he  said,  "I  should  think  that  was  enough.  This 
house  will  have  to  be  sold.  You  will  have  to  live  in  a 
rented  house  or  In  a  cottage.  Tomorrow  I  shall  be  posted 
throughout  the  city  as  a  bankrupt.  I  should  think  that  was 
enough."  She  said  to  her  husband:  "Have  you  prayed?" 
And  he  said :  "No,  I  had  not  thought  of  that  yet."  "Why," 
she  said,  "that  Is  the  first  thing  to  do.  Let  us  pray  together 
and  then  trust  God  and  all  will  be  well." 

They  went  to  prayer.  God  heard  them  and  then  they 
went  to  sleep.  In  the  morning  he  went  early  to  his  office 
but  had  hardly  entered  it  before  the  president  of  one  of  the 


l6o  '    Getting  Things  From  God 

strong  banks  of  the  city  came  In  and  said  to  him:  "You 
were,  I  believe,  in  the  bank  yesterday  afternoon."  "Yes," 
he  said,  "I  needed  some  money  for  paper  falling  due  today 
and  I  was  in  your  bank."  "I  believe  the  cashier  told  you 
you  could  not  draw  on  us  at  this  time."  "Yes,"  the  mer- 
chant replied,  "that  is  what  he  said."  "Well,"  said  the 
banker,  "we  have  conferred  about  the  matter  and  we  have 
decided  that  you  may  draw  on  us  up  to  $50,000."  It  was 
quite  sufficient  to  carry  him  over  the  strain  and  he  came 
through  the  time  of  an  actual  panic  without  impairment 
of  credit. 

There  is  no  doubt  at  all  but  that  thousands  of  men  who 
fail  would  experience  the  same  mercy  if  they  would  ask  in 
the  same  way. 

Not  long  since  I  read  of  two  men  in  a  small  town,  one 
of  whom  knew  how  to  pray,  the  other  of  whom  did  not 
know  how  to  pray.  They  went  to  their  homes  heavy- 
hearted.  The  one  who  knew  how  to  pray,  prayed  and 
courage  and  help  came  to  him.  He  went  through  the  time 
without  loss  of  honor  and  without  serious  losses  of  other 
kinds.  The  man  who  did  not  know  how  to  pray  went  into 
his  bathroom  and  shot  himself.  His  wife  and  children 
gathered  up  the  poor  body  and  buried  it,  but  did  not  bury 
the  memory, — could  never  bury  the  memory.  It  pays  to 
pray.  The  silver  and  the  gold  are  God's,  "and  the  cattle 
upon  a  thousand  hills"  (Psa.  50:10).  "The  earth  is  the 
Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof;  the  world,  and  they  that 
dwell  therein"  (Psa.  24:1).  Your  heavenly  Father  know- 
eth  what  things  you  have  need  of;  your  heavenly  Father 
knoweth  that  you  have  need  of  these  things.  "Ask,  and  ye 
shall  receive,  that  your  joy  may  be  full." 


Loving  His  Owriy  He  Loved  Them  to  the  End     i6i 

Trouble  Through  Men 

Sometimes  when  we  are  not  troubled  because  of  sick- 
ness, or  because  of  temptation,  or  because  of  financial  limita- 
tions, we  are  troubled  by  human  beings.  Children  do  not 
do  right.  Parents  do  not  do  right.  Husbands  grieve  wives, 
wives  grieve  husbands.  Neighbors  are  not  kind  to  neigh- 
bors. At  times  these  difficulties  with  humans  are  trifling. 
They  are  what  we  call  vexations.  At  other  times  they  rise 
to  fearful  heights  and  fairly  swamp  the  soul,  but  whether 
they  be  more  serious  or  less  serious,  the  remedy  is  the  same; 
in  fact,  if  they  are  dealt  with  promptly  at  the  beginning, 
they  are  not  so  likely  to  become  so  serious  as  if  they  are  then 
neglected.  "The  king's  heart  is  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord, 
as  the  rivers  of  water:  he  turneth  it  whithersoever  he  will" 
(Prov.  21:1). 

I  have  over  and  over  again,  in  my  home  life,  in  my 
school  life,  in  my  church  life,  in  my  community  life,  ex- 
perienced the  truth  that  God  is  able  to  save  us  from  these 
difficulties  with  humans,  be  the  same  less  or  more.  I  am  not 
saying  that  all  people  are  equally  agreeable.  Of  course, 
everyone  knows  that  it  would  not  be  true.  There  seems  to 
have  been  a  special  tie  between  our  Lord,  Peter,  James  and 
John, — not  because  they  were  better  than  other  disciples, 
but  because  they  were  appointed  to  a  special  service,  or  be- 
cause there  were  natural  qualities  which  made  them  more 
sympathetic  and  helpful  than  others  could  be,  but  it  is  possi- 
ble to  live  in  a  measure  of  peace  and  harmony  with  most  in- 
dividuals. We  do  not,  have  to  quarrel  and  we  are  not  re- 
quired ordinarily  to  suffer  greatly  in  our  relations  with  our 
fellow  beings.  If  we  are  humble,  if  pride  and  self-w^ill  can 
be  definitely  nailed  to  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ,  there  will 


i62  ,      Getting  Things  From  God 

not  be  many  times  in  our  lives  when  we  cannot  be  fairly 
comfortable  with  the  people  about  us. 

But  if  we  murmur  and  complain  when  we  ought  to  pray, 
difficulties  will  continue,  difficulties  will  increase,  difficulties 
which  in  the  beginning  are  trials  light  as  air,  may  grow  in- 
to such  dimensions  that  they  will  destroy  the  peace  of 
churches,  communities,  that  they  will  alienate  hearts  forever. 
There  is  a  blessing  pronounced  upon  peace-makers  and  we 
all  should  aspire  to  this  blessing.  If  we  cannot  ourselves 
attain  to  the  blessing  of  the  peace-maker,  we  ought  at  least 
to  attain  to  the  blessing  of  the  peace-keeper.  If  we  cannot 
harmonize  and  unite  those  who  are  at  enmity,  we  should  be 
able  to  avoid  worrying  and  distressing  other  folk.  It  is  very 
sad  to  see  good  people  who  are  continually  at  variance  with 
their  fellows.  If  there  is  prayer  such  as  there  ought  to  be, 
these  lives  will  be  changed. 

He  Did  Not  Pray  Enough 
I  knew  a  man  who  was  in  many  respects  one  of  the  best 
men  I  ever  knew, — ^pure  in  his  life,  genial  in  his  relations 
with  those  who  were  next  to  him,  absolutely  honest  in  his 
purposes  and  intentions, — but  everlastingly  in  quarrel  and 
litigation  with  somebody.  I  never  knew  a  more  tireless 
laborer  in  my  life.  He  nearly  killed  himself  with  his  work 
but  he  died  after  having  lost  two  fortunes,  being  in  com- 
parative poverty  when  it  was  entirely  within  his  power  to 
have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus,  universally  regretted,  and  with 
all  the  comforts  of  life  about  him.  I  think  of  him  often 
when  this  subject  comes  up.  I  do  not  think  he  prayed 
enough.  I  know  he  did  not  pray  enough  with  the  people  of 
God.  He  worked  so  diligently  with  his  hands  that  it  was 
hard  for  him  to  go  to  prayer-meetings  at  all.     Ordinarily 


Loving  His  Oivriy  He  Loved  Them  to  the  End     i6^ 

he  was  not  In  the  weekly  prayer-meeting  and  this  was  one 
of  the  things  that  marred  his  peace  and  crippled  his  influence 
for  good. 

Let  me  close,  as  I  began,  by  saying  that  God  answers 
prayer  because  He  loves  His  children.  He  would  answer 
more  prayer  if  there  was  more  prayer  for  Him  to  answer. 
He  does  not  wish  one  person  who  reads  this  chapter  to  be 
long  troubled  in  body  or  spirit  or  in  social  relations.  A 
rest  remains  for  the  people  of  God.  "Thou  wilt  keep  him 
in  perfect  peace,  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee:  because  he 
trusteth  in  thee"  (Isa.  26:3).  The  trusting  spirit  prays  to 
learn  and  learns  to  pray  and  it  also  receives  things  from 
God,  so,  brethren,  let  us  be  careful  about  prayer. 


Chapter  III 
GOD  WISHES  US  TO  SERVE  OTHERS 


FOREWORD 

"This  faith  sheds  a  wholly  new  light  on  the  life  of 
obedience.  Christ  holds  Himself  responsible  to  work 
in  me  every  moment,  if  I  only  trust  Him  for  it.  Then  I 
begin  to  understand  the  important  phrase  with  which 
Paul  begins  and  closes  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (Rom. 
1:5;  16:26):  'The  obedience  of  faith.'  Faith  brings  me 
to  the  Lord  Jesus,  not  only  to  obtain  the  forgiveness  of 
sin,  but  also  that  I  may  every  moment  enjoy  the  power 
which  will  make  it  possible  for  me,  as  a  child  of  God,  to 
abide  in  Him,  and  to  be  numbered  among  His  obedient 
children— of  whom  it  is  written  that,  as  He  who  has 
called  them  is  holy,  so  they  also  may  be  holy  in  all  man- 
ner of  conversation.  Everything  depends  on  whether  or 
not  I  believe  on  the  whole  Christ,  with  the  fullness  of 
His  grace,  that  He  will  (not  now  and  then  but)  every 
moment  be  the  strength  of  my  life.  Such  faith  will  lead 
to  an  obedience  which  will  enable  me  to  'walk  worthy 
of  the  Lord  unto  all  pleasing,  being  fruitful  in  every 
good  work,  strengthened  with  all  might,  according  to  His 
glorious  power.' 

"The  soul  which  feeds  on  such  promises  will  experi- 
ence now,  instead  of  the  disobedience  of  self-effort,  what 
the  obedience  of  faith  means.  All  such  promises  have 
their  measure,  their  certainty,  and  their  strength  in  the 
living  Christ." — Andreiu  Murray, 


CHAPTER  III 
GOD  WISHES  US  TO  SERVE  OTHERS 

I  DO  not  remember  who  It  was,  but  it  seems  to  me  that 
it  was  John  Wesley  who  was  accustomed  to  say  that 
the  chief  duty  of  Christians  was  to  attain  to  happiness. 
I  have  spoken  in  the  chapter  just  concluded,  of  God's  answers 
to  prayer  as  designed  to  bring  us  into  this  happy  state.  Jesus 
said :  "These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that  my  joy 
might  remain  in  you,  and  that  your  joy  might  be  full" 
(John  15:11). 

If  we  were  to  put  the  desires  of  God  for  us  into  a 
single  sentence,  perhaps  we  could  not  speak  more  truthfully 
than  to  say  He  wishes  us  tO"  be  glad.  It  is  my  impression 
that  this  is  true,  but  there  is  in  reality  no  such  thing  possible 
as  a  selfish  gladness  which  shall  be  permanent.  Selfishness 
is  a  deadly  poison  and  if  permitted  in  the  heart  of  any  life, 
will  work  out  bitterness  and  death.  If  we  are  truly  glad, 
other  people  will  share  in  our  sunshine.  This  is  an  inevit- 
able, and  being  an  inevitable,  is,  of  course,  a  part  of  the 
divine  plan,  so  I  pass  on  to  say  that  God  answers  our 
prayers,  because  He  wishes  us  to  help  our  fellows  and  these 
answers  enable  us  to  help  them  in  various  ways. 

The  Contagion  of  Example 
The  mere  fact  that  God  has  answered  our  prayers  will 
encourage  other  people  to  pray  and  to  secure  good  things 
from  God  if  they  find  out  what  He  has  done  for  us  in  answer 

W 


i68  '        Getting  Things  From  God 

to  petition.  I  heard  a  man  who  had  been  so  ruined  by  sin 
that  life  seemed  to  hold  nothing  more  for  him,  say  that  in 
his  helplessness  and  despair  he  stumbled  into  a  meeting  of 
the  Salvation  Army.  Dazed  and  crushed,  he  listened  to  man 
after  man  telling  what  God  had  done  for  him  and  finally, 
leaving  the  room  and  going  to  the  miserable  abode  which  he 
called  "home,"  he  fell  upon  his  knees  and  said:  ''O  Lord,  you 
helped  those  other  fellows,  please  help  me."  He  said  that 
from  that  hour  he  was  delivered — that  God  did  exactly  the 
thing  he  asked  Him  to  do,  helped  him  in  the  way  He  helped 
the  other  fellows. 

Several  years  ago  I  mentioned  In  "The  Christian  En- 
deavor World"  the  fact  that  I  was  at  one  time  troubled  to 
get  into  my  office.  Various  keys  had  been  used  and  the  bolt 
had  passed  out  of  position  so  that  the  key  that  should  have 
struck  against  the  notch,  struck  against  the  smooth  edge  of 
the  bar.  I  did  not  at  the  time  know  what  the  matter  was. 
I  only  knew  that  the  gentleman,  my  guest,  wished  his  suitcase 
and  that  I  could  not  get  it  for  him.  After  having  tried 
several  moments  and  had  others  do  the  same  unavailingly, 
I  said  to  one  of  the  janitors :  "Will  you  kindly  see  that  this 
door  Is  opened?  We  shall  need  to  get  this  gentleman's  suit- 
case for  the  train  at  3  o'clock." 

He  consented  to  do  so  and  we  went  on  to  our  luncheon. 
Returning  at  3  o'clock,  in  scant  time  for  the  train,  I  found 
the  door  locked  and  the  lock  in  exactly  the  condition  in 
which  it  had  been.  I  turned  the  key  forward  and  backward, 
and  did  not  know  what  to  do.  At  last  it  occurred  to  me 
that  I  had  not  prayed,  so  as  I  stood  by  the  door  I  said: 
"Lord,  you  know  that  this  gentleman  needs  his  baggage 
and  I  cannot  get  it  for  him  in  time  for  the  train  unless  you 
help.     Please  make  this  key  throw  this  bolt."     Having  thus 


God  Wishes  Us  to  Serve  Others  i6g 

prayed  as  I  stood  by  the  door,  I  turned  the  key  and  as  if 
there  had  never  been  the  slightest  difficulty,  the  bolt  shot 
back  and  the  door  was  open ! 

I  mentioned  this  to  two  brother  ministers  at  my  table 
that  day  or  the  next,  and  one  of  them  said:  *'I  never  would 
bother  the  Lord  about  a  little  thing  like  that.  I  would 
consult  a  locksmith."  So  would  I  have  consulted  a  locksmith 
had  there  been  time,  but  if  I  had  waited  to  do  so,  my  friend 
could  not  have  had  his  suitcase  in  time  for  his  train.  I  was 
glad  that  God  gave  It  to  him. 

This  fact  having  been  stated  in  "The  Christian  Endeavor 
World,"  one  of  my  neighbors  not  long  afterward  mentioned 
the  fact  that  she  had  read  it.  She  said  that  her  stove  had 
been  out  of  order  for  some  weeks,  that  she  had  ordered  the 
stove  man  to  come  and  put  it  in  order,  that  he  had  failed  to 
do  so  and  that  her  husband  had  repeatedly  gone  to  the  city 
with  the  memory  of  a  smoky  kitchen  and  a  poor  breakfast  to 
hamper  his  day's  work.  Having  read  this  article,  she  said: 
"I  said  to  myself,  if  God  in  answer  to  prayer  will  help  un- 
lock a  door,  why  would  he  not  help  me  with  my  stove,  to 
get  my  husband  a  decent  breakfast?"  So  she  prayed  that 
God  would  help  her  about  the  stove,  and  she  said :  "I  do  not 
pretend  to  know  what  the  reason  was  for  the  change.  The 
only  difiference  that  I  know  about  was  that  I  had  prayed." 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  explanation,  the  stove  drew 
perfectly  from  the  beginning  and  her  husband  had  a  hot 
breakfast  and  a  clean  house  to  remember  as  he  went  away  to 
the  train. 

These  Things  Happened  for  Examples 
I   suppose  that  in   our   Christian   lives,    from   beginning 
to  end,  there  is  nothing  more  commonplace  than  the  force 


lyo  '        Getting  Things  From  God 

of  example.  God  helps  one  person  to  do  a  thing  and  some- 
body else,  learning  of  this  assistance,  asks  for  and  receives 
the  same.  This  Is  true  everywhere  and  Is  one  reason,  no 
doubt,  vi^hy  God  answers  our  prayers,  In  order  that  we  may 
assist  other  people  by  telling  them  of  the  answers  which  we 
have  received,  and  encouraging  them  to  ask  and  receive 
that  their  joy  also  may  be  full. 

Another  great  fact  in  prayer  life  is  that  when  we  have 
ourselves  prayed  and  have  received  the  joy  of  the  Lord  in 
our  lives  as  a  result,  we  are  in  a  condition  to  be  helpful  to 
other  people  by  our  own  activities.  One  of  the  reasons  why 
we  do  not  help  others  more  is  because  we  do  not  care  to. 
Of  course  this  is  failure.  I  shall  not  do  any  more  good  than 
I  wish  to.  But  another  reason  why  we  oftentimes  fail  in 
helping  our  fellows,  is  because  we  do  not  know  how  or 
we  have  not  the  power.  This  knowledge  and  this  power  are 
gained  by  prayer  and  if  we  thus  pray,  God  answers  our 
prayers  that  we  may  be  helpful  to  our  fellows.  I  think  most 
of  our  readers  will  have  at  some  time  heard  the  little  gospel 
song:  "Make  Me  a  Channel  of  Blessing  Today."  The  senti- 
ment is  perfectly  Christian  and  the  fact  Is  an  explanation 
of  the  great  usefulness  of  certain  persons,  for  God  wishes  to 
make  us  blessings  and  if  we  ask  for  knowledge  as  to  method, 
or  for  power  to  carry  out  a  proposed  form.  He  is  certain 
to  help  us. 

I  remember  to  have  been  riding  into  Boston  one  morning. 
I  sat  in  the  coach  praying  as  we  were  running  Into  the  sta- 
tion and  my  prayer  was  that  the  Lord  would  enable  me  to  be 
of  service  to  some  of  His  children  that  day.  When  I  stepped 
on  the  platform  I  saw  immediately  before  me  a  little  Italian 
woman.  She  had  a  baby  in  her,  arms,  a  child  perhaps  three 
years  of  age,  hanging  on  to  her  skirts,  a  satchel  in  the  free 


God  Wishes   Us  to  Serve  Others  171 

hand  and  a  large  bundle  of  clothes  lying  on  the  platform. 
She  looked  very  helpless  and  instantly  the  Spirit  said  to  me: 
"Here  they  are." 

So  I  took  the  bundle  of  clothes  and  the  grip.  She  looked 
at  me  closely  for  a  moment,  but  evidently  made  up  her 
mind  that  I  did  not  intend  to  do  any  harm,  and  I  said  to  her 
in  very  good  English,  of  which  she,  I  suppose,  did  not  under- 
stand a  single  word,  though  she  could  perfectly  understand 
my  look  and  act:  "Come  on,  let  us  go  down."  So  we  went 
the  long  length  of  that  platform  in  the  South  Station,  to 
the  concourse,  w^here  I  found  directly  the  interpreter  who 
took  care  of  the  Italians.  He  took  her  baggage,  spoke  to 
her  in  her  native  tongue  and  put  her  in  the  way  where  she 
wished  to  go.  It  was  a  very  little  thing  to  do,  but  it  was 
an  answer  to  prayer  and  it  helped  me  to  be  helpful. 

I  do  not  know  where  I  read  it  but  not  long  ago,  some- 
one, perhaps,  Dr.  Torrey  himself,  spoke  of  his  method  of 
making  journeys.  The  report  was  that  when  Dr.  Torrey 
went  into  a  passenger  coach  he  put  his  baggage  in  the  rack 
or  on  the  floor  of  the  coach,  sat  down  in  the  seat  next  the 
window  and  then  prayed  that  God  would  bring  to  his  seat 
the  person  whom  he  could  help.  How  simple  it  is  and  yet 
how  many  times  it  would  please  God  to  do  that  very  thing, 
to  bring  the  soul  desiring  service  into  living  touch  with  the 
soul  needing  service. 

A  Homeless  Woman 
I  remember  very  w^ell  meeting  an  unfortunate  lady  at 
one  time  who  reported  that  she  had  been  robbed  of  practi- 
cally all  her  money,  that  she  had  been  ordered  out  of  her 
boarding-house,  and  that  she  did  not  know  which  way  to 
turn  or  what  to  do.  I  was  on  my  way  to  the  city  at  the 
time,  having  a  meeting  there,   and   I  was  as  perplexed  as 


1^2  ,        Getting  Things  From  God 

she.  When  we  got  on  to  the  train,  I  looked  through  the 
train  to  find  a  seat  for  her  and  finally,  in  the  far  back  of  the 
coach,  found  a  single  empty  seat,  no  other  empty  seat  being 
near  it.  I  then  went  forward  through  the  car,  looking  for  a 
place  for  myself.  I  finally  found  two  seats  facing  one  an- 
other, in  which  there  was  an  old  lady  and  two  children. 

I  sat  down  in  the  vacant  seat,  facing  the  old  lady.  I 
did  not  know  her,  but  after  a  moment  she  said  to  me:  "I 
think  you  are  President  Blanchard."  I  said :  "Yes,  my 
name  is  Blanchard.  May  I  know  to  whom  I  am  speaking?" 
She  gave  me  her  name  and  said  to  me:  "I  have  been  in 
city  mission  work  in  Chicago  for  many  years  and  I  have 
frequently  heard  you  preach  in  the  Moody  Church."  I  said 
to  her:  "If  you  were  to  meet  a  lady  tonight  who  had  no 
money,  who  had  been  ordered  out  of  her  boarding-house 
because  she  was  already  in  arrears  and  could  not  pay,  is  there 
any  place  in  Chicago  where  you  could  take  such  a  person 
where  she  would  be  safe  and  comfortable?"  "Oh  yes," 
she  said,  and  named  a  home — I  think  on  Indiana  Avenue. 
I  said  to  her:  "I  have  a  friend  here  on  the  train  who  is 
in  that  condition.  Would  you  be  willing  to  meet  her."  She 
said:  "Certainly,  I  should  be  glad."  So  I  went  back  to  the 
place^  where  this  lady  was  sitting  and  brought  her  forward 
and  put  her  down  in  the  seat  where  I  had  been,  introducing 
her  to  this  city  missionary  lady.  The  latter  was  some  dis- 
tance from  home  and  had  quite  a  journey  to  make  to  the 
north  of  the  city,  but  she  postponed  her  departure  and  went 
with  this  needy  sister  to  the  south  side  and  housed  her  safely. 

I  did  not  hear  the  result  of  the  transaction  for  several 
years  but,  meeting  the  missionary  after  perhaps  two  or  three 
years,  she  mentioned  the  occurrence  and  said  that  she  was 
glad  to  say  that  that  lady  was  kept  safely  in  this  home  until 


God  Wishes  Us  to  Serve  Others  17^ 

her  skies  lightened  and  she  was  able  to  accomplish  the  thing 
that  she  desired.  God  helps  us  that  we  may  help  others. 
There  is  no  doubt  about  it. 

I  fear  because  I  mention  at  times  little  things  that  God 
has  permitted  me  to  do  for  others,  that  I  shall  create  the  im- 
pression that  I  have  always  been  faithful  and  successful  in 
such  matters.  This  is  not  at  all  true.  My  failures  have 
been  far  more  than  my  successful  services  but  I  do  not  see 
that  it  would  glorify  God  for  me  to  speak  of  the  times  when 
by  forgetfulness,  by  inattention,  by  self-neglect,  I  have  failed 
to  accomplish  what  God  has  put  within  my  power.  If  I 
thought  it  would  be  of  any  help  to  anybody,  I  would  cheer- 
fully speak  of  these  events,  but  because  I  am  trying  to  en- 
courage people  to  pray  for  their  own  comfort,  for  the  help 
of  other  people,  I  mention  the  instances  in  my  own  life  and 
in  the  lives  of  others  which  I  think  will  put  them  about  the 
work  w^hich  they  ought  to  do. 

The  Infinite  Resources 

I  do  not  know  just  how  to  say  what  I  desire,  but  what 
I  am  thinking  of  is,  the  fact  that  among  all  the  millions  of 
people  who  live  in  this  world,  so  few  are  care-free,  so  many 
are  burdened,  that  God  has  in  His  heart  not  some  of  these 
people  but  every  one  of  them  and  that  He  has  at  His  com- 
mand in  the  way  of  physical  well-being,  spiritual  help,  ma- 
terial resources,  all  and  more  than  all  that  they  require,  yet 
there  are  these  tens  of  millions,  hundreds  of  millions,  many 
of  them  in  Christian  lands,  who  do  not  know  how  to  go  to 
Him  for  the  things  which  they  need.  How  are  they  to  learn 
unless  some  of  those  who  have  found  the  road,  point  it  out 
to  those  who  are  yet  in  ignorance  of  it? 

This  calls  up  another  question  which  is  related.    I  speak 


I'/ 4  '        Getting  Things  From  God 

of  the  duty  of  testimony  concerning  the  answers  to  our 
prayers.  To  pray  is  one  thing,  believing  for  answers  is  a 
part  of  all  real  prayer.  Testimony  to  these  answers  is  a 
third  thing,  which  differs  from  the  first  tw^o,  and  an  answer 
which  is  not  recorded  will  die  with  those  immediately  con- 
cerned, while  an  answer  which  is  mentioned  to  the  praise 
of  God  will  become  a  fountain,  sending  its  sweet  waters 
far  and  wide  through  the  desert  lands  in  w^iich  human 
hearts  are  suffering. 

I  mention  here  two  narratives  of  fact  which  impressed  me 
deeply,  which  I  have  already  reported  to  the  people  of  God 
through  "The  Christian  Endeavor  World,"  but  vrhich  I  am 
permitted  to  micntion  here  for  the  encouragement  of  God's 
people.  I  am  sure  that  the  facts  are  as  stated,  for  I  knew 
the  people  well.  They  have  lived  near  me  for  years  and  I 
am  certain  that  those  w^ho  w^ill  believe  and  ask  may  also 
receive  and  thus  their  joy  may  become  full. 

A  Student's  Faith  Tested 

The  first  is  a  narrative  which  was  given  to  me  by  a  min- 
ister who  has  developed  large  powers  as  a  Christian  teacher, 
and  relates  to  the  time  when  he  was  in  preparation  for  his 
present  work. 

He  was  studying  in  a  school  where  meals  were  served 
only  for  cash,  and  where  payments  were  made  not  by  the 
week,  or  for  longer  periods,  but  by  the  meal.  One  night 
he  was  in  a  mission,  and  among  the  friends  present  was  a 
poor  woman  with  a  little  child.  He  had  at  the  time  only 
seventy-five  cents,  but  felt  strongly  moved  by  the  suffering, 
of  the  woman  and  the  child,  so  that  in  the  end  he  gave  them 
all  that  he  had,  walking  home  through  the  streets  with  an 
empty  pocket  but  a  glad  heart. 


God  Wishes   Us  to  Serve  Others  17$ 

He  thought,  inasmuch  as  he  had  given  his  money,  all 
that  he  had,  to  one  of  God's  suffering  ones,  God  would  in 
some  way  provide  him  with  a  breakfast  the  next  morning. 
The  morning  came,  and  the  breakfast  for  others;  but  there 
was  nothing  for  him.  He  was  a  young,  strong  man  with 
a  good  appetite  arising  from  plenty  of  hard  work.  He  said, 
"This  is  all  right ;  no  doubt  something  will  come  by  dinner- 
time." He  thought  that  he  should  find  the  money  on  the 
sidewalk,  or  that  some  friend  would  hand  it  to  him,  or  that 
he  would  get  some  payment  for  work,  or  that  in  some  way 
God  would  provide  him  with  a  dinner.  But  He  did  not, 
and  there  was  no  dinner  for  him.  It  was  so  at  supper-time 
and  so  the  next  morning. 

By  this  time  he  was  ravenously  hungry.  It  was  sug- 
gested to  his  mind  that  there  were  scores  of  fellows  around 
him  who  would  lend  him  what  he  needed  for  the  present, 
and  that  he  could  repay  them.  But  he  said:  "No,  I  will 
not  borrow  money.  I  expect  to  be  a  preacher,  and  to  tell 
people  that,  if  they  do  right,  God  will  take  care  of  them. 
I  will  see  this  thing  through ;  and,  if  God  does  not  take  care 
of  me,  I  will  never  preach  to  other  people  that  God  will 
take  care  of  them." 

There  was  no  dinner  that  day,  nor  supper,  nor  break- 
fast the  next  morning;  and  still  he  believed  in  God,  and 
waited  His  time.  Toward  the  middle  of  the  forenoon  one 
of  the  instructors  of  the  institution  called  him  aside,  and 
said  to  him,  '*I  have  received  this  check,  which  I  hand  to 
you,  with  direction  to  give  it  to  some  one  who  will  use  it 
wisely;  and  I  have  decided  to  give  it  to  you."  It  was  a 
check  for  $36.  He  cashed  it,  and  provided  for  his  bodily 
needs  in  the  way  of  food,  and  then  had  sufficient  left  to 
secure  clothing,  which  he  was  also  needing.     From  that  time 


1^6  '        Getting  Things  From  God 

to  this  present  he  has  never  passed  through  such  a  testing- 
time  as  God  gave  him  on  that  occasion. 

The  Poorhouse  in  Prospect 

The  second  experience  w^as  repeated  to  me  very  recently 
by  a  person  whom  I  have  known  for  nearly  or  quite  forty 
years,  but  I  had  been  until  this  time  in  total  ignorance 
of  the  facts  which  I  here  record. 

The  lady  said  to  me  that  shortly  after  her  marriage  the 
father  and  mother  of  her  husband  were  in  serious  financial 
difficulties.  A  mortgage  threatened  to  eat  up  their  home, 
and  there  was  not  money  in  it  for  daily  needs,  even  if  the 
house  had  been  free. 

Her  mother-in-law  said  to  her,  "Father  and  I  must  go  to 
the  poorhouse ;  there  is  nothing  else  left  for  us  to  do."  She 
replied,  "Never,  while  I  am  alive." 

After  her  husband  and  she  had  looked  over  the  situation, 
they  agreed  to  go  to  the  home  of  the  father  and  mother,  and 
to  join  their  slender  earnings  with  those  of  the  father  and 
mother,  to  secure  the  home  and  to  keep  the  daily  needs  sup- 
plied. 

Shortly  after  this  resolution  had  been  put  into  execution 
her  husband  lost  his  situation,  and  after  diligent  effort  failed 
to  secure  anything  else  to  do.  In  this  extremJty  he  opened 
a  small  place,  and  began  a  business  for  himself ;  but  it  seemed 
that  all  the  business  went  in  other  directions.  For  weeks 
the  income  of  the  family  amounted  to  not  more  than  fifty 
cents  per  week.  These  saints  first  paid  their  tithe,  and  then 
lived  on  the  remainder,  absolutely  refusing  to  go  into  debt 
even  for  a  loaf  of  bread.  She  said  to  me,  "There  were 
many  days  when  for  myself  and  for  each  one  of  the  children 
r  put  down  one-half  a  piece  of  bread,  gave  thanks  to  God, 
and  knew  that  He  would  deliver  us  in  due  time." 


God  Wishes  Us  to  Serve  Others  lyy 

One  morning  she  did  not  have  the  half-piece  of  bread  in 
the  household.  There  was  absolutely  nothing  except  a  little 
flour,  and  she  had  nothing  with  which  to  cook  that  except 
water.  In  this  extremity  she  went  to  her  room,  and  laid 
the  matter  before  God.  She  said  to  Him:  "You  know  we 
are  your  children,  seeking  to  do  your  will;  that  we  have  not 
robbed  you  in  tithes  and  offerings.  You  know  how  hard  it 
is  for  me  to  see  the  children  hungry,  and  how  my  own 
strength  is  weakened  for  lack  of  food;  and  you  know  that 
I  rely  upon  you  to  supply  our  need." 

After  a  few  moments  a  neighbor  came  into  the  house, 
who  had  no  knowledge  whatever  of  the  situation,  and  said  to 
her:  "We  have  a  Jersey  cow,  and  we  cannot  use  all  the  milk; 
and  I  have  a  pint  of  cream  which  is  sour,  but  which  I 
should  be  glad  if  you  could  use." 

She  thanked  her,  went  into  the  next  room,  where  her 
father-in-law  and  mother-in-law  lived,  and  said:  "See  what 
God  has  sent  us.  I  have  flour;  now,  if  you  will  let  me 
have  a  little  lard  and  baking  soda,  we  can  have  some  hot 
biscuits." 

She  was  about  preparing  them,  w^hen  another  neighbor 
came  in,  also  ignorant  of  the  situation,  and  said  to  her,  "I 
have  just  received  a  box  from  my  home  on  the  farm;  and 
there  are  more  things  in  it  than  we  know  how  to  use,  and 
I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  bringing  some  over  to  you."  She 
proceeded  to  lay  down  on  the  table  a  quantity  of  sweet  pota- 
toes, a  supply  of  bacon  and  ham,  and  other  provisions  of  like 
sort,  until  the  table  was  almost  covered. 

Pretty  soon  a  third  neighbor,  w^hose  husband  kept  a  small 
grocer}'  store  near  by,  came  in,  and  said  to  her:  "I  do  not 
want  you  to  be  offended,  but  I  have  here  about  six  pounds 
of  butter,  which  is  a  little  too  old  for  table  use,  but  which 


1/5  Getting  Things  From  Cod 

IS  good  for  cooking;  and  I  should  be  glad  to  leave  It  with 
you,  If  you  can  use  It.  Then,  too,  I  have  a  gallon  of  honey 
drips.  My  children  like  honey  drips,  and  I  think  yours  will 
like  them,  too.  I  also  have  a  little  canned  fruit,  which  has 
been  standing  on  our  shelves,  and  which  ought  to  be  used 
up.  So  I  took  the  liberty  to  bring  that  over,  also.  If  you 
are  willing,  I  should  be  glad  to  leave  these  all  for  you." 

"Well,"  said  this  dear  friend,  "we  had  a  great  table,  the 
hot  biscuits,  and  the  sweet  potatoes,  and  the  honey  drips,  and 
the  other  gifts  which  we  had  not  known  for  weeks  and 
months."  Let  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  say  that  they  are 
redeemed. 


Chapter  IV 
TAPPING  THE  INFINITE   RESERVOIRS 


FOREWORD 

**The  Holy  Spirit  Is  'the  Spirit  of  prayer.'  He  Is  defi- 
nitely called  by  this  name  in  Zechariah  12:10:  'The 
Spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplications.'  Twice  in  Paul's 
epistles  there  is  a  remarkable  reference  to  Him  in  the 
matter  of  prayer.  *Ye  have  received  the  Spirit  of  adop- 
tion, whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father'  (Rom.  8:15).  'God 
hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  His  Son  into  your  hearts, 
crying,  Abba,  Father'  (Gal.  4:6).  Have  you  ever  medi- 
tated on  these  words:  'Abba,  Father'?  In  that  name  our 
Saviour  offered  His  greatest  prayer  to  the  Father,  accom- 
panied by  the  entire  surrender  and  sacrifice  of  His  life 
and  love.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  given  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  teaching  us,  from  the  very  beginning  of  our  Chris- 
tian life  onward,  to  utter  that  word  in  childlike  trust 
and  surrender.  In  one  of  these  passages  we  read:  'We 
cry';  in  the  other:  'He  cries.'  What  a  wonderful  blend- 
ing of  the  Divine  and  human  co-operation  in  prayer. 
What  a  proof  that  God — if  I  may  say  so — has  done  His 
utmost  to  make  prayer  as  natural  and  effectual  as  though 
it  were  the  cry  of  a  child  to  an  earthly  father,  as  he 
says:    'Abba,   Father.' 

"Is  it  not  a  proof  that  the  Holy  Spirit  Is  to  a  great  ex- 
tent a  stranger  in  the  church,  when  prayer,  for  which 
God  has  made  such  provision,  is  regarded  as  a  task 
and  a  burden?  And  does  not  this  teach  us  to  seek  for  the 
deep  root  of  prayerlessness  in  our  ignorance  of,  and  dis- 
obedience to,  the  Divine  Instructor  whom  the  Father  has 
commissioned  to  teach  us  to  pray?" — Andrew  Murray. 


CHAPTER  IV 
TAPPING  THE  INFINITE  RESERVOIRS 

FOR  the  title  of  this  chapter  I  am  indebted  to  my  dear 
friend  and  brother,  Dr.  Amos  R.  Wells,  editor  of 
"The  Christian  Endeavor  World,"  and  I  am  also 
indebted  to  the  friends  who  conduct  that  great  paper,  for  the 
privilege  of  inserting  this  chapter.  There  are  a  few  things 
in  it  which  possibly  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  book, 
but  at  the  time  I  prepared  the  article  they  were  all  closely 
knit  together  in  my  mind  and  I  take  the  liberty  to  leave 
them  just  as  they  were  printed  in  the  wonderful  paper, 
which  I  have  several  times  mentioned. 

It  is  one  of  the  unpleasant  facts  connected  with  present 
educational  life  in  the  United  States  that  presidents  of  col- 
leges are  required  to  spend  so  much  of  their  time  in  serving 
tables;  that  is  to  say,  the  raising  of  funds  and  the  expendi- 
ture of  funds  require  a  large  portion  of  the  thought  and  time 
of  the  college  president. 

The  man  who  ought  to  be  continually  occupied  with  the 
soul-life  of  his  students,  who  should  have  time  to  think 
and  pray  and  labor  for  the  spiritual  uplift  of  those  who  are 
to  be  centres  of  life  and  power  in  the  coming  age,  seems 
condemned  to  $pend  much  of  his  time  on  questions  relating 
to  endowments,  buildings,  libraries,  and  so  forth. 

I  have  already  said  to  readers  of  "The  Christian  En- 
deavor World"  that  some  years  since  I  began  to  ask  of  our 
heavenly  Father  that  He  would   lessen  my  labors  in  that 

282 


i82  ^         Getting  Things  From  God 

direction  and  set  me  more  at  liberty  for  the  intellectual  and 
spiritual  labors  which  are  the  proper  office  of  a  college  man. 

Three  Definite  Requests 

I  made  three  petitions.  These  petitions  were,  first,  that, 
if  it  were  the  divine  will,  friends  who  were  contributing 
regularly  to  the  funds  of  the  institution  might  be  led;  to  be- 
stow larger  sums  than  they  had  been  hitherto  giving.  This 
was  not  intended  to  be  an  added  tax  on  them,  but  an  en- 
larged proportion  out  of  the  funds  devoted  to  a  work  which 
is  fundamental  and  far-reaching  in  character. 

I  remark  merely  in  passing  that  this  petition  was  almost 
immediately  granted.  Without  solicitation,  people  who  had 
been  giving  certain  sums  annually  or  occasionally  began  to 
double,  in  some  instances  to  quadruple,  their  gifts.  The 
result  was  that  the  time  required  for  securing  the  needed 
money  was  greatly  reduced,  and  the  effort  required  was  also 
lessened. 

The  second  request  was,  that  God  would  incline  per- 
sons who  had  not  been  requested  to  contribute  to  college 
needs,  persons  of  whom  we  did  not  know,  to  make  appro- 
priations for  the  work.  This  was  desired  as  a  testimony  to 
the  promise-keeping,  prayer-hearing  character  of  our  heav- 
enly Father. 

Though  all  good  gifts  are  from  Him,  whether  they  are 
requested  or  not,  the  gift  which  is  bestowed  without  any  hu- 
man intervention  seems  more  obviously  His  work  than  that 
which  comes  in  answer  to  any  solicitation.  In  the  one  case 
there  is  the  impress  of  the  divine  Spirit  alone;  in  the  other 
case  there  is  the  divine  action  through  the  human  instru- 
mentality. 

As  remarked  above,  both  are  divine;  but  this  character- 


Tapping  the  Infinite  Reservoirs  i8^ 

istic  is  more  evident  in  the  case  where  the  human  is  not  in 
any  measure  involved.  It  is  of  these  particular  requests  that 
I  desire  in  this  article  to  speak. 

The  third  petition  was  that  a  human  helper  might  be 
bestowed,  if  it  were  the  divine  will,  so  that  the  cares  and 
labors  of  this  sort  which  were  necessary  might  be  divided 
so  that  my  own  hands  might  be  set  more  at  liberty  for  what 
is  undoubtedly  the  principal  dut}^  of  one  who  has  the  care 
of  souls. 

As  I  do  not  at  this  time  intend  to  speak  in  detail  of  the 
answer  to  this  request,  I  will  say  that,  when  I  was  at  a 
large  meeting  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  a  gentleman  of  whom  I 
had  never  heard,  whose  name  I  did  not  know,  approached  me 
and  asked  for  a  place  in  the  college  life  such  as  is  indicated 
above. 

After  inquiry  had  been  made  from  those  to  whom  he 
referred,  he  was  engaged  for  service  in  this  direction,  and 
with  human  limitations  proved  to  be  a  God-ordained  helper. 
It  was  largely  through  him  that  the  fund  of  $100,000  which 
we  were  seeking  at  that  time  was  secured.  At  some  time  I 
may  give  a  fuller  account  of  this  particular  transaction,  but 
this  will  suffice  for  the  present.  I  simply  record  the  fact  that 
God  answered  prayer  and  sent  the  help  which  w^as  needed. 

The  reader  will  note  that  the  second  request  was  a  plea 
for  the  special  honor  of  our  heavenly  Father,  a  request  that 
He  w^ould  directly  move  on  the  hearts  of  people  irrespective 
of  any  human  agency  whatever. 

Shortly  after  I  began  to  make  this  request  of  God  a 
gentleman  in  Chicago  who  was  an  old  and  valued  friend, 
and  who  had  at  various  times  contributed  small  sums  to  the 
work  of  the  college,  passed  away.  He  had  spent  his  life  in 
the  ministry,  and  had  no  considerable  property;  but  out  of 


184  '        Getting  Things  From  God 

the  estate  which  he  had  he  directed  his  executors  to  pay  to 
the  college  the  sum  of  $100.  Under  some  circumstances 
this  would  not  have  been  an  impressive  fact,  but  under  the 
circumstances  which  then  existed  it  seemed  a  very  impressive 
fact.  It  seemed  to  be  the  first  item  in  what  I  believed  would 
be  a  long  answer  to  a  large  request. 

Not  long  after  this  event  I  received  word  that  an  old 
friend  had  died  in  the  state  of  Nebraska.  It  had  been  thirty 
or  forty  years  since  I  had  been  intimately  associated  with 
him.  He  was  at  that  time  a  minister,  and  was  serving  poor 
congregations  in  one  of  the  smallest  of  our  church  organiza- 
tions. His  children  when  they  came  to  college  were  closely 
limited  in  their  expenditures.  I  had  never  known  of  any 
change  in  his  circumstances,  and  had  never  requested  any 
gifts  from  him  for  any  department  of  college  work.  I  think 
I  should  have  more  naturally  thought  of  offering  him  some 
small  token  of  brotherly  regard  than  of  suggesting  that  he 
should  do  anything  for  the  college  enterprise. 

I  was,  however,  notified  that  he  had  made  the  college  one 
of  his  heirs,  and  a  property  was  by  him  bestowed  which 
would  have  netted  the  college  $1,000,  if  a  few  j^ears*  delay 
had  been  expedient.  It  was,  however,  sold  at  once  for  $600, 
which  was  needed  then. 

About  this  time,  I  believe  shortly  thereafter,  I  received 
word  from  attorneys  in  Iowa  that  the  college  was  heir  to  an 
estate  in  that  commonwealth.  Looking  the  matter  up,  I 
found  that  a  lady  whom  I  had  never  seen,  but  to  whom  I 
had  written  several  years  before,  had  willed  a  large  portion 
of  her  estate  to  the  institution. 

I  had,  as  stated,  never  seen  her,  had  written  to  her  only 
once  or  twice,  and  then  without  any  expectation  of  any  large 
gift,     I  had  no  knowledge  of  her  resources.     In  fact,  her 


Tapping  the  Infinite  Reservoirs  iS-^ 

close  friends  did  not  know  what  they  were,  and  told  me  they 
were  surprised  to  find  them  so  considerable. 

Her  executor  proved  to  be  a  Christian  gentleman,  and 
expressed  his  readiness  to  pay  to  the  college  immediately  the 
amount  of  her  bequest  less  a  reasonable  reservation  for  pos- 
sible bills  yet  to  be  presented. 

The  result  of  that  transaction  when  complete  was  that 
something  more  than  $6,000  came  to  the  treasury  when  it 
was  very  greatly  needed,  and  when  it  not  only  met  present 
requirements,  but  contributed  largely  toward  the  securing 
of  the  fund  for  endowment  to  which  reference  has  before 
been  made. 

Another  Gift 

Some  time  after  this  transaction  had  been  completed, 
perhaps  two  years,  I  received  word  from  a  stranger  in  Mis- 
souri, notifying  me  that  a  relative  in  Kansas  had  made  the 
college  one  of  his  heirs,  and  requesting  that  we  look  after 
the  matter.  Taking  up  this  subject,  we  learned  that  a  gen- 
tleman residing  in  Kansas  had  left  three-fourths  of  his  prop- 
erty to  the  college  and  the  remaining  one-fourth  to  a  local 
beneficence  in  which  he  was  interested. 

There  was  no  reason  why  this  gift  should  not  have  been 
paid  over  at  once;  but  various  interested  persons,  who  de- 
sired to  secure  a  portion  of  it  for  themselves,  prevented  the 
immediate  settlement  which  might  have  been  made  and  which 
would  have  accomplished  the  desire  of  the  testator.  Never- 
theless, when  the  matter  was  finally  concluded,  the  college 
received  more  than  $10,000  from  that  estate,  $6,000  of 
which  was  passed  to  the  endowment  account,  the  remainder 
being  used  for  current  expenses. 

About  two  years  ago  we  received  word  from  New 
Hampshire  that  a  lady  there,  also  a  stranger  to  us,  and  to 


i86  Getting  Things  From  God 

whom  no  request  had  been  proferred,  so  far  as  we  have  any 
knowledge,  by  any  officer  or  friend  of  the  Institution,  had 
directed  the  executor  of  her  estate  to  pay  to  the  college  the 
sum  of  $3,000.  This  sum  less  the  inheritance  tax  has  just 
been  received  by  the  institution,  so  that  we  have  the  record 
of  more  than  $20,000  which  has  been  provided  for  the  work 
of  the  institution  without  any  intervention  in  the  way  of 
agencies  or  requests. 

The  SignificanGe  of  This 

This  will  to  some  not  appear  to  be  a  significant  fact ;  to 
me  it  appears  very  significant,  Indicating,  the  power  and  dis- 
position of  God  to  provide  for  the  needs  of  the  Institution 
by  direct  impulse  on  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men  and  women 
rather  than  through  the  solicitation  of  others. 

Why  then  should  we  not  discontinue  agencies?  I  think 
this  question  is  Inevitable.  It  naturally  rises  In  the  minds  of 
thoughtful  people.  If  God  is  able,  and  if  He  is  disposed  to 
provide  for  His  work  and  the  needs  of  His  church  without 
human  effort,  why  should  we  not  discontinue  all  effort,  mak- 
ing our  petitions  to  Him  and  to  Him  alone?  The  answer  is 
that  for  some  of  God's  children  this  Is  undoubtedly  the 
method  which  should  be  pursued. 

"The  Life  of  Trust,"  by  George  Mliller,  seems  to  be 
decisive  In  regard  to  that  subject.  There  have  also  been  in 
various  parts  of  the  world  other  great  enterprises  which  have 
been  carried  forward  in  the  same  manner,  that  is,  by  direct 
petition  to  God  without  the  employment  of  any  human  in- 
strumentalities whatever. 

It  is  my  Impression  that  this  method  of  carrying  on  the 
Lord's  work  is  in  important  respects  more  honorable  to  our 
heavenly  Father,  more  stimulating  to  faith,  and  more  an 


Tapping  the  Infinite  Reservoirs  187 

occasion  of  gratitude  and  thanksgiving  than  other  methods 
which  the  Lord's  people  sometimes  seem  directed  to  use. 

I  remember  a  valued  friend,  having  learned  to  receive 
things  from  God  in  answer  to  prayer,  who  said  to  me,  speak- 
ing of  this  subject:  "My  motto  is,  'Trust  God,  and  tell  His 
people.'  "  There  is  a  reason  for  this  method  also,  as  any 
one  will  see  who  will  consider  the  matter;  and,  while  I  am 
still  of  the  opinion  that  the  former  method  is  the  ideal,  and 
should  be  employed  whenever  one  is  so  directed,  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  the  second  method,  which  is  not  always  best, 
may  sometimes  be  the  divine  plan  for  God's  people.  There 
are  a  number  of  reasons  for  this  opinion. 

Agencies  in  God's  Work  Have  a  Special  Value 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  the  resulting  communion  of 
saints,  both  in  the  imparting  of  information  and  in  the  shar- 
ing of  God's  material  gifts. 

In  the  Jewish  system  there  was  a  careful  provision  for 
the  meeting  and  communion  of  God's  chosen  ones.  Three 
times  in  the  year  the  adult  Israelites  had  their  great  gath- 
erings. They  spent  days  together.  They  were  entirely  free 
from  ordinary  occupations.  There  was  time  for  what  we 
should  call  visiting,  which  Is  in  Itself  a  means  of  grace,  and 
which  is  sadly  neglected  in  our  own  time.  My  impression 
is  that,  if  those  who  represent  God's  work  are  consecrated 
men  and  women,  the  necessar)^  meeting  with  other  people 
individually  and  in  assemblies  Is  of  itself  a  means  of  grace. 

"Information  Is  Inspiration" 
There  is  also  the  truth  indicated  by  the  proverb,  "In- 
formation is  inspiration,"     God  employs  all  the  knowledge 
which  His  people  possess  as  a  means  of  Inspiring  them  for 
His   work.      Sometimes    this    knowledge    is    communicated 


i88  Getting  Things  From  God 

through  the  printed  page;  reports  are  made,  sent  out,  fall 
into  the  hands  of  earnest  people  who  are  ready  to  do  what- 
ever God  wants,  but  who  would  not  know  what  He  wants, 
did  they  not  receive  the  information  contained  on  the  printed 
page. 

At  times  this  same  information  may  be  communicated  in 
a  personal  conversation  in  an  office  or  a  parlor.  At  other 
times  it  may  be  imparted  through  public  addresses;  but,  no 
matter  how  the  work  is  done,  God's  people  need  to  be  in- 
formed about  His  work ;  and,  if  they  are  informed,  then  they 
will  be  led  to  do  things  which  the  Spirit  would  never  sug- 
gest to  them  if  they  lacked  the  knowledge  which  is  thus 
acquired. 

The  third  fact  which  may  properly  be  stated  is,  that 
God  seems  always  disposed  to  bless  labor. 

The  fields  yield  their  annual  harvests  because  of  divine 
power,  but  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  human  efforts  should 
be  combined  with  the  divine  energy.  Men  plough  and  plant 
and  cultivate  and  gather  in  as  a  condition  of  harvest.  All 
their  efforts  would  be  vain  and  useless  without  the  divine 
blessing.  On  the  other  hand,  the  divine  blessing  would  not 
be  bestowed  if  through  carelessness,  indifference,  or  idleness 
the  effort  of  the  human  mind  and  heart  and  hand  were  kept 
back. 

Variety  in  unity  is  a  divine  law.  We  are  oftentimes 
reminded  that  this  is  the  order  in  which  the  universe  pro- 
ceeds. The  plan  is  one;  the  great  purpose  of  God  is  to 
purge  out  from  this  world  which  He  made  very  good  all 
things  which  have  marred  and  hindered. 

This  He  is  doing  day  by  day,  and  will  continue  to  do 
until  the  very  rocks  give  up  the  record  of  the  sins  of  men, 
and  we  have  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  in  which  right- 


Tapping  the  Infinite  Reservoirs  iSg 

eousness  alone  will  dwell.  I  often  think  of  an  illustration 
with  which  Dr.  Joseph  Parker  of  London,  closed  his  great 
address  on  ''Manner  in  the  Pulpit."     He  said: 

"A  little  gold  watch  was  one  day  crossing  Westminster 
Bridge  at  the  time  when  Big  Ben  tolled  out  the  hour  of  noon 
from  the  clock-tower  in  the  Parliament  Buildings.  The  lit- 
tle watch  looked  up  at  the  big  clock,  and  said,  'I  do  not  like 
you;  your  face  is  too  broad,  your  hands  are  too  big,  j^our 
voice  is  too  coarse ;  I  do  not  like  you.' 

The  Broader  View 

"And  the  big  clock  said  to  the  gold  watch,  *Comc  up 
here,  little  sister;  come  up  here.' 

"So  the  little  watch  toiled  painfully  up  the  stone  steps, 
and  at  last  stood  by  the  big  clock,  and,  looking  out  over  the 
surging  millions  of  London,  the  big  clock  said  to  the  w^atch: 
'Little  sister,  there  is  a  man  down  there  on  Westminster 
Bridge  who  wishes  to  know  the  hour.  Will  you  tell  him, 
please?'  And  the  little  watch  said:  'Oh  I  could  never 
make  him  hear.  My  voice  is  so  small  it  never  could  begin 
to  carry  in  such  a  whirlwind  of  noise  as  this.* 

"The  big  clock  said:  'Oh  yes,  little  sister;  I  had  for- 
gotten ;  yet  the  man  wishes  to  know  the  time,  he  requires 
to  know,  and  you  cannot  tell  him;  but  I  can  and  will.  So 
let  us  henceforth  not  criticise  one  another.  You  will  not 
find  fault  with  me  nor  I  find  fault  with  you;  but  each  of 
us  in  our  own  place,  you  for  your  mistress  and  I  for  the 
great  city,  will  teach  men  everywhere  to  redeem  the  time.'  " 

This  beautiful  illustration  is  of  very  wide  application. 
It  covers  many  things  besides  manner  in  the  pulpit.  It  will 
be  of  value  to  all  the  thousands  who  will  read  it  here. 

How  should  we  pray? 


igo  ■       Getting  Things  From  God 

My  father  was  a  wonderful  man  of  prayer.  My  earli' 
est  recollections  are  of  hearing  him  pray  at  night  in  his 
study,  which  was  next  to  the  bedroom  where  my  brother 
Willie  and  I  slept.  I  have  known  him  time  and  again  to 
rise  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  dress  or  wrap  himself 
in  a  quilt,  and  kneel  and  pray. 

These  prayers  were  sometimes  very  long  continued ;  and 
in  my  own  prayer  life,  which  has  been  differently  directed, 
there  were  years  when  I  felt  distressed  that  I  was  not  led 
to  do  as  my  father  did.  I  sometimes  thought  that  I  ought 
to  do  so  irrespective  of  feelings,  and  sometimes  that  I  ought 
to  pray  God  to  make  me  pray  as  my  father  did. 

But  one  day  He  said  to  me,  "Do  you  wish  to  pray  the 
way  your  father  did,  or  do  370U  wish  to  pray  the  way  I  want 
you  to?" 

I  said,  "Of  course,  I  wish  to  pray  the  way  you  would 
have  me;  but  it  seems  as  though  my  father's  prayers  were 
more  self-sacrificing,  and,  because  they  were,  must  be  more 
pleasing  to  j^ou." 

And  He  said  to  me:  "I  am  w^ell  able  to  tell  you  how  I 
wish  you  to  pray.  You  have  nothing  to  do  except  to  be 
watchful  and  obedient.  When  I  tell  you  to  pray  standing, 
stand  and  pray;  and,  when  I  tell  you  to  rise  from  your  bed, 
kneel,  and  pray,  do  that.  Always  do  the  thing  I  tell  3^ou  to 
do,  and  you  will  be  right  in  my  sight." 

This  message  released  me  from  bondage,  and  I  have 
since  been  joyously  free  In  this  as  well  as  in  many  other 
matters.  I  record  the  facts  above  stated  for  the  praise  of  my 
heavenly  Father  and  for  the  comfort  and  help  of  my 
brothers. 

I  am  sure  that  we  have  not  attained  to  even  a  small  part 
of  what  God  would  be  glad  to  do  for  us.    I  know  that  there 


Tapping  the  Infinite  Reservoirs  igi 

are  tens  of  thousands  of  burdened  hearts,  men  and  women 
troubled  with  temptations  of  the  adversary,  troubled  by  the 
failures  and  defects  of  other  people,  troubled  by  the  lack  of 
worldly  resources,  troubled  by  aches  and  pains  in  their 
bodies,  troubled  by  failure  to  comprehend  .things  which  they 
need  to  know  in  order  to  carry  forward  their  life-tasks  suc- 
cessfully. And  to  all  of  these  dear  children  Jesus  is  saying 
now,  just  as  He  said  long  ago,  "Ask,  and  you  shall  receive; 
seek,  and  you  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto 
you.  For  every  one  who  asks  receives,  and  he  t'aat  seeks 
finds,  and  to  him  that  knocks  it  shall  be  opened." 


Chapter  V 

KNOWETH  THAT  YE  HAVE  NEED 
OF  THESE  THINGS" 


FOREWORD 

"If  you  will  now  turn  to  the  appointed  time  for  the 
fulfilling  of  Old  Testament  promise,  you  will  read  in 
Galatians  4:6,  'Because  ye  are  sons,  God  hath  sent  forth 
the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  your  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Fa- 
ther.' Here  we  find  God  doing  exactly  what  He  prom- 
ised to  do;  sending  the  blessed  Holy  Spirit,  and  send- 
ing Him  as  a  Spirit  of  prayer,  enabling  us  to  say,  'Our 
Father,  who  art  in  heaven.'  Notice  in  passing,  please, 
that  this  Spirit  is  called  the  Spirit  of  His  Son.  Because 
we  have  the  Spirit  of  His  Son  we  are  Sons.  Now  read 
I  John  3:1,  and  think  of  all  this  means!  It  is  rich  with 
blessing  for  those  who  understand.  It  is  through  the 
Son  that  'we  have  access  by  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father' 
(Eph.  2:18).  We  can  'come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace,* 
because  our  Father  sits  upon  it.  It  is  the  Spirit  of  Son- 
ship  that  distinguishes  prayer  from  beggary.  'When  the 
evidence  of  sonship  grows  dim,  we  knock  feebly  at 
mercy's  door.*  " — William  E.  Biederivolf. 

"And  I  will  bring  the  blind  by  a  way  that  they  knew 
not;  I  will  lead  them  in  paths  that  they  have  not  known; 
I  will  make  darkness  light  before  them,  and  crooked 
things  straight.  These  things  will  I  do  unto  them,  and 
not  forsake  them"  (Isa.  42:14). 


CHAPTER  V 

"KNOWETH  THAT  YE  HAVE  NEED  OF 
THESE  THINGS" 

IT  IS  one  of  the  sad  facts  connected  with  our  Christian 
lives  that  we  so  slowly  come  to  comprehend  and  appre- 
ciate our  relations  to  God  and  the  privileges  resulting 
therefrom.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  if  one  of  my  readers  were 
offered  the  privilege  of  adoption  by  an  earthly  monarch,  it 
would  produce  a  most  profound  impression  upon  his  mind. 
Earthly  kings  are  not  always  ^desirable  people  but  there  is 
a  strange  attraction  about  a  crow^n.  Probably  it  is  because 
of  the  fact  that  earthly  sovereignty,  so  far  as  it  has  any 
righteousness  in  it  at  all,  rests  upon  the  divine.  The  sheen 
of  royal  robes,  the  glitter  of  gems,  the  flashing  buttons  of 
armed  guards,  the  stately  processions  for  crownings  or  other 
royal  pageants — all  these  have  been,  from  the  beginning  un- 
til now,  probably  always  will  be,  wonderfully  attractive  to 
weak,  human  nature. 

The  Seen  Perishes,  the  Unseen  Abides 

I  heard  a  friend  reporting  not  long  since  a  sermon  to 
which  he  had  listened  from  the  text:  "The  things  which 
are  seen  are  temporal ;  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are 
eternal"  (2  Cor.  4:18).  I  did  not  hear  the  sermon  myself 
and  his  report  was  fragmentary,  but  I  was  deeply  impressed 
by  an  illustration  or  so  which  he  said  the  minister  had  used. 

He  spoke  of  a  stone  lying  in  the  middle  of  a  road,  easily 
seen.     He  said:     "If  you  should  take  a  hammer  and  crack 

195 


jg6  '         Getting  Things  From  Cod 

that  stone  and  rub  the  two  pieces  together  sharply,  you 
would  have  heat.  The  heat  could  not  be  seen.  It  could 
be  felt  and  while  it  was  being  created  the  stone  would  be 
wearing  away.  Pushed  still  further  the  friction  might  pro- 
duce light.  The  light  could  not  be  seen  while  it  was  slumb- 
ering in  the  stone,  but  the  heat  and  the  light  becom.ing  active 
forces  are,  so  far  as  science  tells  us,  deathless.  Energy  may 
be  transformed  but  it  cannot  be  destroyed.  It  may  hide  it- 
self from  us  but  it  will  continue  to  be.  It  is  easy  to  multi- 
ply illustrations  and  how  vivid  they  make  the  truth  that  the 
seen  perishes  while  the  unseen  abides." 

All  physical  illustrations  of  spiritual  truth  are  necessa- 
rily imperfect.  At  the  same  time  they  are  very  suggestive 
and  help  us  to  know  the  spiritual  facts  more  clearly  than  we 
might  without  such  illustration.  Take,  for  example,  the 
wireless  telegraph  or  the  wireless  telephone.  It  is  probable 
that  within  ten  years  persons  may  sit  in  New  York  and 
speak  with  persons  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea  with  no 
helper  but  the  unseen  forces  which  God  has  planted  in  the 
universe.  These  have  existed  from  the  beginning  until  now. 
They  will  continue  to  exist  to  the  end.  They  are  unseen 
but  they  are  for  us  practically  eternal.  The  telegraph  im- 
plements of  only  a  few  years  ago  are  already  antique.  They 
have  gone  by  tons  into  the  junk  shops.  Other  machines  will 
follow  them,  but  the  forces  which  these  machines  in  bungling 
fashion  made  apprehensible  will  never  die — will  become  more 
vivid  and,  if  you  will  allow  the  expression,  visible  as  years 
pass. 

The  Whole  of  Our  Life  of  Interest  to  God 

I  desire  to  repeat  here  a  commonplace  which  is  very  im- 
portant to  the  spiritual  lives  of  men,  especially  to  the  prayer 


"Knoweth  That  Ye  Have  Need  of  These  Things'*  igy 

lives  of  men.  The  truth  upon  which  I  am  dwelling  in  mind 
is  this :  That  there  is  no  part  of  our  lives  which  is  a  matter 
of  indifference  to  God.  I  heard  not  long  since  a  man  say- 
that  it  was  an  insult  to  God  to  ask  for  a  temporal  blessing. 
If  he  was  right,  why  did  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  tell  us  to 
say:  "Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread"  (Matt.  6:11). 
Evidently  my  friend  was  mistaken.  In,  his  eagerness  to  im- 
press certain  truth  he  discredited  another  truth  which  is  im- 
portant, if  not  equally  important.  The  fact  is  God  made 
us  as  we  are — complex  beings,  not  simple,  consisting  of  a 
single  element.  We  have  bodies  as  well  as  souls.  We  can 
suffer  under  a  bruise  or  a  cut  as  well  as  under  a  mistake 
or  a  sin.  We  can  enjoy  the  fragrance  of  a  clover  field  or 
a  rose  garden  as  truly  as  we  can  the  thought  of  a  kind  ac- 
tion received  or  done.  It  is  true  that  the  pain  and  the  glad- 
ness differ.     I  am  not  saying  that  they  are  just  alike. 

I  am  saying  that  they  are  real.  The  fact  that  they  differ 
proves  the  complexity  of  our  being.  The  fact  that  they  are 
real  shows  that  God  must  be  interested  in  them  both.  Now, 
God  answers  prayer  because  He  is  interested  in  us,  just  as 
He  has  made  us.  How  pitiful,  how  absurd  it  w^ould  be  if 
God  should  make  men  complex  beings  and  then  be  interested 
in  only  one  side  of  their  existence, — if  God  should  make  men 
so  that  they  need  bread  and  water,  and  then  provide  for 
them  nothing  but  air  and  the  influences  of  His  Holy  Spirit. 
The  latter  are  no  doubt  important,  but  the  former  are  im- 
portant, too.  So  I  desire  to  try  to  state  here:  God  is  inter- 
ested in  everything  which  concerns  you.  You  therefore  have 
a  right  to  talk  with  Him  about  it  and  to  speak  with  Him  very 
plainly,  too,  for  there  is  no  virtue  in  obscurity  and  circum- 
locution in  a  personal  conference. 


jg8  Getting  Things  From  God 

How  Shall  a  Needy  Mother  Pray? 

Suppose,  for  example,  that  a  mother  Is  reading  these 
words — that  she  has  four  children,  that  her  husband  is  dead, 
that  she  has  no  income  except  what  she  derives  from  her 
labor  as  a  scrubwoman  or  a  seamstress,  that  it  is  the  dead 
of  winter,  that  her  fuel  is  exhausted  and  that  her  children 
are  crying  from  hunger  and  cold.  Suppose,  further,  that  in 
the  providence  of  God  she  has  no  friends  in  the  place  where 
she  is.  Suppose  she  is  lost  in  a  great  city  and  does  not  know 
a  human  heart  to  which  she  can  turn.  What  shall  we  tell 
the  woman  respecting  prayer? 

The  thing  we  ought  to  tell  her  is,  that  God,  who  hears 
the  ravens  and  the  young  lions  and  provides  for  the  needs  of 
His  irrational  creatures,  knows  all  about  her,  is  interested 
in  her,  and  that  she  has  a  right  to  talk  with  Him  very  simply 
and  plainly.  She  can  say  "coal,"  and  "bread,"  and  "milk," 
and  "eggs,"  and  "snow,"  and  "ice,"  and  "storm,"  with  the 
assurance  that  He  understands  exactly  what  she  is  talking 
about,  and  that  He  is  both  able  and  disposed  to  minister  to 
her  needs.  Or,  suppose  that  it  be  a  case  of  sickness,  or  a  case 
of  temptation,  or  ;!  case  of  alienated  friendship, — God's  peo- 
ple need  to  know  and  practically  to  believe  that  there  is 
no  need  of  any  kind  which  comes  to  them  concerning  which 
they  may  not  speak  to  Him  with  perfect  freedom.  I  have 
In  another  chapter  spoken  of  pra^^er  for  what  seemed  to  be 
little  things.  There  are  no  little  things  In  our  lives  when 
we  come  to  look  at  them  thoroughly,  and  God  wishes  us  to 
be  perfectly  frank  and  free  in  our  conversations  with  Him. 

When  a  friend  leaves  us  for  a  journey,  we  should  pray 
for  wisdom  that  our  friend  may  keep  out  of  the  way  of 
trains,  may  not  be  run  down  by  street-cars,  may  not  be 
crushed  by  some  fast-flying  automobile.     We  ought  to  pray 


"Knoweth  That  Ye  Have  Need  oj  These  Things''  igg 

for  engineers  and  firemen — for  conductors  and  porters,  for 
passengers  and  for  passersby.  We  ought  to  thank  God  for 
our  homes,  I  mean  the  houses,  and  to  pray  Him  to  protect 
them  from  fire  and  wind  and  wicked  men  and  evil  angels. 
The  more  childlike  we  are  in  approaching,  the  more  certain 
we  are  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  privileges  which  God  has 
put  within  our  power. 

Victory  Over  Temptations 

The  Bible  speaks  of  being  "in  heaviness  through  mani- 
fold temptations";  it  also  speaks  of  "resisting  unto  blood, 
striving  against  sin."  The  example  of  our  Lord  in  the 
wilderness  shows  that  temptations  from  Satan  may  be  so 
terrible  as  to  cause  one  to  go  without  food  for  forty  days 
without  experiencing  hunger.  Satan,  w^ho  did  net  hesitate 
to  assail  the  Lord  Jesus  Himself,  is  not  likely  to  be  afraid 
of  any  of  His  followers,  and  in  fact  all  who  know  but  a 
little  of  the  Christian  life  will  testif}^  that  there  is  no  afflic- 
tion or  trial  which  can  come  to  human  beings  more  terrible 
than  temptations  to  sin. 

God  delivers  men  from  temptation  in  m.any  ways.  I  re- 
member at  one  time  in  my  life  when  I  was  most  fiercely 
assailed  by  Satan.  It  seemed  I  could  do  nothing  but  pray 
constantly  that  God  would  deliver  me  from  the  power  of 
evil  and  enable  me  to  live  a  holy  life. 

When  the  assaults  of  Satan  and  my  prayers  were  at  their 
height  I  was  suddenly  taken  sick.  I  was  more  sick  than  I 
had  been  for  many  years,  and  the  sickness  continued  for 
some  time. 

I  did  not  immediately  associate  it  with  my  prayers  or 
with  the  temptations  which  I  had  been  experiencing,  but 
when  I  had  passed  the  crisis  of  the  disease  and  had  become 
able  to  think  a  little  I  was  surprised  to  observe  how  com- 


200  Getting  Things  From  God 

pletely  the  temptations  with  which  I  had  been  struggling 
had  passed  away.  They  seemed  like  a  dark,  unlovely  mem- 
ory and  had  no  present  apparent  relation  to  my  being. 

When  this  had  become  clear  In  my  consciousness  I  re- 
called the  prayers  that  I  had  been  uttering  and  especially  the 
energy  to  which  those  prayers  had  risen  at  the  time  I  was 
stricken  down. 

I  do  not  remember  to  have  read  In  the  experience  of 
others  a  record  of  precisely  this  kind,  but  I  am  satisfied  from 
my  own  experience  and  from  the  providences  of  God  In 
general  that  there  are  many  Instances  of  like  sort  In  the  ex- 
perience of  others.  Sometimes  God  delivers  His  people  from 
temptation  by  the  presence  and  help  of  other  people.  At 
times  the  relief  from  the  power  of  temptation  will  be  con- 
scious and  obvious.  At  other  times  It  will  be  real,  but  will 
not  appear  to  be  that  which  It  Is  until  the  time  has  passed. 

The  disposition  of  our  heavenly  Father  to  deliver  us  from 
the  power  of  evil  Is  known  to  all  Christian  people.  The 
methods  in  which  He  works  our  salvation  are  numberless. 
Prayer  Is  probably  Involved  In  them  all.  There  Is  no  one 
who  will  read  these  words  who  will  be,  from  this  time  un- 
til he  dies,  tempted  to  sin  who  may  not  be  delivered,  if  he 
will  wait  upon  God.  Failures  In  Christian  living  are  the 
sources  of  doubts,  fears,  discouragement,  and  uselessness. 
Every  holy  life  Is  a  continuous  power  working  with  God  for 
the  salvation  of  the  world.  Satan  Is  willing  that  we  should 
believe,  If  he  can  render  our  belief  Ineffective  by  reason,  of 
our  defects.  Therefore  we  "ought  always  to  pray,  and  not 
to  faint." 

The  Prayer  of  Faith  Shall  Save  the  Sick 

Years  ago,  being  oftentimes  a  guest  In  homes  where 
people  were  kind  to  me  and  where  there  were  sick  ones,  I 


**Knoweth  That  Ye  Have  Need  of  These  Things**  201 

felt  sad  that  I  had  not  the  gift  of  the  early  Christian 
teachers  so  that  I  might  heal  the  sick  in  homes  where  I  was 
a  guest.  I  finally  spoke  to  the  Lord  respecting  this  matter, 
asking  that  if  it  was  His  will  I  might,  in  some  small  way, 
be  a  benefit  to  good  people  who  were  afflicted  in  their  bodies. 

Shortly  after  I  began  to  offer  this  petition  God  gave  me 
the  privilege  of  praying  with  a  friend  in  the  Tribune  Build- 
ing in  New  York  City.  He  had  been  consulting  all  the 
physicians  that  he  thought  could  help  him,  and  had  steadily 
grown  worse.  His  wife  w^as  in  his  office  trying  to  carry  on 
his  work.  He  was  sorely  perplexed,  not  knowing  which  way 
to  turn  or  what  to  do.  He,  his  wife,  and  I  were  permitted 
to  pray  in  the  Tribune  Building  for  the  rebuke  of  the  dis- 
ease and  for  the  healing  of  this  sick  man.  God  was  pleased 
to  send  healing.  He  immediately  began  to  recover,  before 
long  came  to  his  usual  strength,  and  has  been  for  years 
transacting  business  in  that  office. 

Not  a  great  while  after  this,  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  I 
was  a  guest  in  a  home  where  the  wife  was  alm^ost  dying  with 
rheumatism  and  other  ailments.  She  also  had  had  the  best 
medical  attendance,  and  was  not  better,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  grew  worse.  Her  husband,  she,  and  I  knelt  in  the 
dining-room  where  the  conversation  respecting  her  efforts  to 
secure  medical  aid  had  taken  place,  and  she  also  speedily 
recovered.  I  was  in  that  home  within  a  week  or  ten  days, 
and  found  her  looking  well  and  strong,  moving  freely  and 
happily  about  the  home. 

In  our  own  home  town,  Wheaton,  some  time  after  this, 
there  was  living  a  friend  who  was  an  elder  in  the  first 
church  to  which  I  had  the  privilege  of  preaching  statedly. 
His  wife  was  se'iously  ill;  age  was  against  her;  the  physi- 
cians did  not  seem  able  to  help  her.     Her  children  were 


202  '         Getting  Things  From  God 

called  in  to  see  her  die,  and  remained  for  several  days  await- 
ing the  end. 

Under  these  circumstances  I  was  requested  to  call  and 
have  prayer  with  her  and  her  husband.  I  did  so,  and  it 
pleased  God  to  recover  her.  The  children  who  had  come 
to  see  her  die  went  home;  she  began  again  to  go  about  the 
house.  That  was  a  number  of  years  since,  but  at  last  reports 
she  was  quite  well.  These  are  not  the  only  instances  in 
which  I  have  been  permitted  to  see  healing  after  prayer. 

Some  one  may  say,  "Have  you  never  seen  prayer  ojffered, 
or  made  it  yourself,  for  the  sick  when  they  failed  to  re- 
cover?" Yes,  repeatedly.  No  one,  so  far  as  I  am  informed, 
believes  that  God  has  put  the  power  of  life  and  death  out 
of  His  own  hands;  but  that  it  has  pleased  God  to  hear 
prayer  for  the  sick  in  many  instances  I  personally  know,  and 
what  is  most  remarkable  and  comforting  is  the  fact  that  in 
these  cases  as  a  rule,  not  one  or  two  but  many  physicians 
had  been  consulted  and  had  been  unable  to  help. 

Prayer  for  Rain 

I  have  spoken  to  some  readers  hitherto  of  our  family 
prayers  for  rain.  We  never  offered  these  prayers  until  there 
was  imperative  need.  We  never  offered  them  until  we  were, 
as  we  believed,  led  by  the  Spirit  to  do  so.  We  never  offered 
them  except  at  times  when  there  had  been  long  disappoint- 
ment and  when  there  was  no  present  sign  of  relief;  but  in 
every  case  these  family  prayers,  in  which  all  joined,  from  the 
youngest  to  myself,  were  followed  by  showers  from  heaven. 

I  desire  to  mention  one  instance  which  I  think  has  never 
been  printed,  and  which  differed  in  one  particular  from 
those  which  I  have  referred  to  above. 

We  were,  at  one  time,  in  the  midst  of  a  serious  drought. 


"Knoweth  That  Ye  Have  Need  of  These  Things"    20^ 

It  had  continued  for  weeks,  and  there  was  no  token  of  re- 
lief. After  luncheon  one  day,  as  I  left  the  dining-room,  I 
was  deeply  impressed  that  I  should  go  into  my  room  and 
pray  for  rain.  I  did  so,  going  alone  and  saying  nothing  to 
anyone  of  the  burden  which  had  been  laid  upon  me.  It  was 
in  the  neighborhood  of  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  but  I 
felt  the  assurance  that  rain  would  come. 

I  went  from  my  room,  and  in  front  of  our  home  met 
Mrs.  Blanchard,  and  said  to  her:  "I  have  just  been  moved 
to  pray  for  rain."  At  that  time  there  was,  so  far  as  I  could 
tell,  no  more  sign  of  rain  than  there  had  been  during  the 
weeks  of  drought,  but  at  five  o'clock  that  afternoon  refresh- 
ing shovv^ers  came  pouring  down  upon  the  earth. 

In  our  own  city  some  years  before  prayers  were  offered 
at  a  public  miceting  called  for  the  purpose  of  prayer  for  rain, 
and  before  the  meeting  was  adjourned  the  showers  had  come. 

One  may  ask  again,  ''But  have  not  you  and  have  not 
friends  prayed  for  rain  when  it  did  not  come?"  In  a 
general  way,  yes ;  in  a  particular  and  definite  way,  no.  I  do 
not  remember  a  time  when  we  have  made  a  special,  definite 
appeal  to  God  for  rain  that  it  has  not  come. 

Always  w^hen  we  began  these  prayers  we  confessed  our 
Sabbath-breaking,  our  neglect  of  God's  Word,  our  failure 
to  use  property  with  an  eye  single  to  His  glory,  our  vanity, 
our  pride,  our  self-righteousness,  our  ill  desert.  I  do  not 
believe  it  is  possible  to  get  gifts  from  God  in  answer  to 
prayer,  without  humility  of  heart  and  confession  of  sin.  If 
God  were  to  bestow  gifts  upon  proud,  self-righteous,  sinning 
people.  He  would  offer  a  premium  on  negligence,  careless- 
ness, and  evil-doing. 

In  place  of  thinking  it  strange  that  God  does  not  do 
more  for  us  in  the  way  of  temporal  blessings,  I  am  aston- 


204  Getting  Things  From  God 

ished  that  He  does  not  destroy  us  when  I  think  of  our  na- 
tional sins, — praj^er-meetings  neglected;  lodges,  theaters,  and 
dancing-halls  full;  the  Bible  put  aside;  newspapers,  maga- 
zines, and  wretched  novels  occupying  the  attention  and  time 
of  professed  Christians.  Is  it  not  a  marvel,  things  being  as 
they  are,  that  God  can  answer  prayer  at  all? 

Prayer  for  the  College 

I  began  work  in  Wheaton  College  in  September  of  1872. 
Since  that  time,  in  the  midst  of  many  imperfections  and 
failures,  I  have  given  myself  to  the  service  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  among  the  young  people  of  my  country  and  time. 

Almost  all  the  graduates  of  the  college  during  these 
years  have,  before  completing  their  courses,  confessed  them- 
selves believers  in  Jesus  Christ.  A  large  number,  something 
like  forty  per  cent  of  the  men  graduates,  have  given  them- 
selves to  the  ministry,  to  service  as  Christian  teachers  in 
home  and  foreign  lands,  to  work  in  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  or  some  other  form  of  Christian 
service. 

We  began  with  almost  nothing  in  the  way  of  money,  and 
have  never  had,  from  the  beginning  until  now,  a  wealthy 
patron  who  made  the  college  his  first  care.  Our  helpers 
have  been  broad-minded,  large-hearted  men  and  women, 
who  gave  what  they  gave  to  the  college  not  for  personal 
glory,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  work  it  was  seeking  to  do. 
They  were  givers  in  many  directions,  and  did  not  feel  that 
they  wished  to  make  one  institution  their  chief  care.  One 
of  them  said  to  me,  when  I  asked  him  if  he  would  not  con- 
sider making  the  college  his  chief  work,  "I  am  giving  now 
to  one  hundred  different  charities,  and  I  do  not  dare  or  wish 
to  cut  off  one."  The  result  has  been  that  oftentimes  we 
have  been  In  sore  need  of  money. 


**Knoweth  That  Ye  Have  Need  of  These  Things'*  20s 

Self-Righteousness 

A  friend  once  said  to  me  that  he  thought  it  unwise  to 
tell  such  things  as  are  related  above,  on  the  line  that  such 
narratives  produced  the  impression  that  I  thought  my  own 
prayers  better  than  the  prayers  of  other  people.  I  have  re- 
ferred to  this  once  before — I  refer  to  it  again.  I  do  not  see 
the  slightest  reason  for  such  an  impression.  Ought  not  a 
man  to  give  his  own  testimony?  If  God  has  answered  his 
prayers,  ought  he  not  to  say  so  ?  It  would  be  clearly  right 
for  him  to  tell  of  instances  in  which  God  has  answered  the 
prayers  of  other  people,  but  if  he  does  this,  why  should  he 
not  speak  of  his  own? 

I  was  only  a  boy  when  I  began  to  read  Miiller's  "Life 
of  Trust."  I  considered  it  then,  and  I  consider  it  still,  one 
of  the  most  startling  things  which  I  ever  looked  upon.  If 
I  could,  I  would  circulate  that  book  by  tens  of  millions  of 
copies  and  I  believe  if  thousands  of  pain-racked,  perplexed, 
worried  men  and  women  would  read  that  record,  they  would 
be  helped  to  pray,  and  that  praying,  evils  would  pass  away 
and  comfort  would  come  into  their  hearts  and  lives.  But 
how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher,  and  how  shall  men 
preach  if  they  have  no  experience? 

J.  Hudson  Taylor's  Story 
I  had  exactly  the  same  feeling  when  I  first  read  the  life 
of  J.  Hudson  Taylor,  and  noted  the  marvelous  way  in  which 
God  led  him  as  he  was  laying  the  foundations  of  the  China 
Inland  Mission.  This  mission  today  seems  to  me  a  standing 
miracle.  To  think  of  a  thousand  men  and  women  working 
in  China,  far  away  from  the  homes  in  which  they  were 
raised,  supported  by  voluntary  gifts  of  God's  people  with- 
out direct  solicitation  from  anyone!     It  is  a  rebuke  to  me 


2o6  ,        Getting  Things  From  God 

every  time  I  think  of  it,  and  I  confess  my  own  failures  and 
pray  for  more  strength  to  pray. 

Returning  for  a  moment  to  George  Miiller's  work.  I 
read  only  this  morning  about  that  work  at  Bristol,  many 
hundreds  of  orphans  still  being  fed  and  clothed  and  educated 
and  launched  on  life.  For  tens  of  years  it  has  been  the  rule 
that  the  daily  needs  had  a  daily  supply  and  nothing  more. 
When  they  required  a  building,  God  sent  the  money  for  a 
building.  When  they  wanted  a  breakfast,  God  sent  the 
money  for  the  breakfast,  but  there  was  little  or  nothing  over 
for  dinner  or  supper, — oftentimes  nothing  at  all,  so  that 
Mr.  Miiller  said:  "Not  once,  nor  twice,  nor  scores  of 
times,  but  literally,  hundreds  of  times  when  one  meal  was 
eaten  there  was  not  either  the  food  or  money  to  secure  the 
next  one  for  about  two  thousand  orphans."  I  told  you  this 
before  but  I  tell  you  again  for  the  purpose  of  calling  at- 
tention to  a  most  remarkable  phenomenon. 

That  has  been  the  way  God  has  cared  for  them,  but 
about  six  months  ago  the  orphanages  unexpectedly  found 
themselves  with  money  on  hand  for  some  six  months  in  ad- 
vance. How-  did  this  happen?  Did  it  happen  or  was  it  a 
divine  provision  for  a  time  of  stress  about  which  men  at 
that  time  knew  absolutely  nothing?  There  was  not  a  states- 
man in  the  world  at  that  time  who  could  have  foretold  the 
way  in  which  money  and  men  would  have  been  drained  out 
of  England  and  other  lands  for  the  awful  war  which  is  on, 
but  the  same  God  who  could  supply  a  dinner  when  breakfast 
had  been  eaten,  can  equally  well  supply  for  six  months  in 
advance,  or  six  years,  or  sixty  years,  or  six  hundred  years,  if 
He  pleases.  What  man  puts  a  shovelful  of  coal  on  a  fire 
without  using  a  provision  for  a  need  which  God  had  antici- 
pated for  thousands  of  years? 


**Knoweth  That  Ye  Have  Need  of  These  Things''  207 

Is  it  not  strange  that  we  pray  so  poorly  as  we  do,  and 
OMght  we  not  continually  to  pray  for  wisdom  and  strength 
to  pray?  How  wise  if,  day  by  day,  we  should  come  to  our 
loving  Saviour,  saying  to  Him:  ''Lord,  teach  us  to  pray," 
and  how  greatly  are  we  encouraged  thus  to  do  when  we  re- 
member that  He  did  not  reprove  His  defective,  imperfect 
disciples  because  they  could  not  pray  better,  but  right  away 
said  to  them:  "When  ye  pray,  say:  Our  Father,  which  art 
in  heaven"  (Luke  11:2). 


Chapter  VI 
THE  "WHY"  OF  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE 


FOREWORD 

"Tyndall,  who  has  so  Taboriously  opposed  the  Chris- 
tian faith  in  this  respect,  admitted  that  prayer  might 
avail  for  spiritual  aid,  but  said  that  no  good  could  come 
*of  giving  it  a  delusive  value  by  claiming  for  it  a  power 
in  physical  nature.'  Dr.  Patton  has  aptly  remarked  that, 
*A  metaphysical  philosopher  might  indeed  exactly  reverse 
the  statement,  with  much  greater  plausibility.  He  might 
affirm  that,  knowing  from  constant  experience  the  power 
of  free  will  over  the  laws  of  matter,  and  the  ease  with 
which  it  can  overrule,  or  combine,  or  counterbalance 
them,  to  work  out  its  own  results,  he  was  ready  to  con- 
cede that  prayer  might  lead  God  to  produce  physical 
eflFects;  but  that  the  real  difficulty  lay  in  understanding 
how  God  could  answer  prayer  by  producing  mental  and 
moral  changes,  where  He  would  have  to  deal  not  with 
dead  matter  but  with  living  spirits ;  not  with  necessitated 
forces  but  with  freedom  itself.'  " — William  E.  Biederiuolf, 

How  firm  a  foundation,  ye  saints  of  the  Lord, 
Is  laid  for  your  faith  in  His  excellent  Word; 

What  more  can  He  say  than  to  you  He  hath  said, 
To  you  who  for  refuge  to  Jesus  have  fled? 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  "WHY"  OF  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE 

I  DO  not  think  that  one  should  ever  speak  carelessly  or 
slightingly  of  a  religious  conviction  which  has  become 
the  possession  of  large  numbers  of  persons.  When  such 
convictions  are  not  a  blessing  they  are  a  tragedy.  When 
they  do  not  conduct  men  to  God  they  put  them  under  the 
dominion  of  His  adversary.  Take  Mormonism.  I  can  re- 
member distinctly  when  men  used  to  say:  "Wait  until  Brig- 
ham  Young  dies,  and  you  will  see  that  Mormonism  will 
perish."  Yet  it  was  never  more  powerful,  was  never  so 
powerful  as  it  Is  today.  It  was  never  more  full  of  demons 
than  it  is  today.  It  has  a  power  in  the  United  States 
through  the  Senate  which  men  of  twenty-five  years  ago 
would  have  deemed  absolutely  Impossible. 

Take  Mohammedanism.  Go  to  Mohammedan  lands. 
See  what  that  system  has  done  for  men  and  women  and 
children.  Consider  the  awful  rule,  now  ending,  of  Turkey 
In  Europe.  When  we  were  on  the  way  to  Constantinople 
a  few  years  ago,  we  saw  along  the  line  of  the  Danube  great 
towers  erected  from  place  to  place,  commemorating  the  time 
a  thousand  years  before  when  the  tide  of  Saracen  conquest 
was  stayed  and  now,  according  to  promise,  that  beastly 
government  is  being  driven  across  the  Bosphorus.  God 
speed  the  day! 

I  mention  these  facts  not  to  injure  the  feelings  of  any 
of  my  dear  friends  who  are,  as  it  seems  to  me,  deluded  by 

211 


212  '        Getting  Things  From  God 

Christian  Science.  It  has  so  happened  that  all  the  Christian 
Scientists  I  know  are  earnest  people  and  most  of  them  have 
been  honest  people.  I  do  not  chance  to  know  one  of  them 
who  was  a  drinker  or  a  blasphemer  or  a  criminal.  I  do  not 
happen  to  know  one  of  them  who  was  not  raised  in  the 
church.  So  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  them,  they  are  de- 
lightful companions,  and  I  am  thankful  to  record  here  my 
testimony  to  their  many  personal  and  social  excellencies. 
Having  said  so  much,  I  wish  to  record  for  them  and  for  all 
friends  my  conviction  that  Christian  Science  is  like  the  other 
cults  to  which  I  have  referred,  an  absolutely  unchristian 
movement  which,  allowed  to  remain  and  go  to  seed,  will 
produce  unspeakable  ills  to  the  human  race. 

Pandita  Ramabai 

When  this  great  woman  landed  In  New  York,  some 
friends  were  telling  her  about  Christian  Science  and  she  at 
once  said:  "Why,  that  is  the  philosophy  that  I  was  taught 
in  India  when  I  was  a  girl.  It  was  the  philosophy  which 
taught  people  to  worship  cows  and  say  that  women  had  no 
souls.  It  was  the  philosophy  which  prevailed  along  with 
the  burning  of  widows,  the  crushing  of  worshippers  under 
the  wheels  of  the  great  car,  the  assassination  of  all  who 
abandoned  the  old  faith."  Ramabai  was  surprised  to  find 
here  the  philosophy  which  had  been  associated  with  all  these 
horrors  which  were  the  daily  experiences  of  her  early  life. 

From  time  to  time  people  say  to  me:  '*How  do  you  ac- 
count for  Christian  Science,  If  you  believe  this  thing  which 
you  say  to  be  true?  How  could  the  pleasant,  agreeable 
people  that  you  speak  of  be  attracted  to  it  and  remain  with 
it  if  it  were  like  the  Hindoo  philosophy,  the  source  and 
foundation  of  all  such  degrading  superstitions?"     I  have  a 


The  **Why'*  of  Christian  Science  21^ 

fear;  I  do  not  say  that  it  Is  certainly  true;  I  simply  say  that 
I  believe  it  to  be  certainly  true.  Whether  it  is  or  not  time 
will  tell,  but  I  believe  that  just  as  Universalism  sprang  out 
of  a  hard  and  unfeeling  preaching  of  the  doctrine  of  retri- 
bution, and  just  as  Spiritualism  arose  from  a  sordid  material- 
istic state  of  natural  consciousness,  just  so  Christian  Science 
was  the  result  of  a  gross  failure  to  know  the  mind  of  God 
respecting  the  bodies  of  men.  The  teaching  of  Christian 
Science  respecting  our  bodies,  so  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with 
ft,  is  substantially  true.  I  mean  to  say  its  practical  teach- 
ing,— I  do  not  mean  to  say  its  theory,  for  its  theory  is  ab- 
surdly and  ridiculously  false. 

According  to  its  theory,  we  have  no  bodies.  They  are  Il- 
lusions of  mortal  mind.  We  have  no  pains;  they  are  illu- 
sions of  mortal  mind.  We  do  not  require  food  or  raiment; 
these  are  also  illusions  of  mortal  mind.  How  sane  people 
can  profess  to  believe  such  absurdities  is  beyond  my  knowl- 
edge, but  the  practical  teaching  of  Christian  Science  respect- 
ing our  bodies  Is  simply  a  transcript  of  Scripture  teaching. 

Do  not  be  troubled  about  yourselves.  Believe  In  God. 
If  you  have,  or  Imagine  that  you  have,  difficulties,  leave  them 
with  Him.  He  will  take  care  of  them.  If  you  have,  or 
think  you  have,  physical  Ills,  trust  them  to  God.  God  is 
able  and  God  Is  willing.  He  will  take  care  of  you.  All 
this  is  true.  It  Is  not  the  discover^'  of  Christian  Science  and 
it  Is  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  it  Is  in  all 
cases  where  ministers  are  faithful  to  their  commission,  the 
teaching  of  the  Christian  church. 

There  is  not  a  case  of  which  I  have  knowledge  In  the 
history  of  the  church,  where  great  revivals  have  prevailed 
and  men  have  largely  drawn  near  to  God,  without  strange 
exhibitions  of  His  power  and   His  willingness  to  heal  the 


214  Getting  Things  From  God 

bodies  of  men.  I  have  spoken  of  His  sending  rain  when  the 
ground  was  dry  and  the  cattle  and  the  sheep  were  without 
drink.  I  have  spoken  of  His  healing  of  the  sick,  the  deathly 
sick,  the  sick  who  had  no  human  recourse.  I  am  witness  in 
my  own  body  and  in  my  home  life  and  in  my  work  as  a 
Christian  minister,  to  the  fact  that  God  heals  people,  heals 
them  when  there  seems  to  be  no  other  power  that  can  reach 
them.  This  I  have  observed.  I  needed  no  Mrs.  Mary  G. 
Baker  Eddy  to  teach  me  anything  of  this  kind.  It  is  all  in 
the  Word  of  God. 

When  Spurgeon's  work  was  beginning  in  England,  it 
was  one  of  the  commonplaces  that  sick  people  were  prayed 
for  by  the  elders  of  that  great  church,  and  were  recovered. 
No  man  can  worship  thirty  days  with  the  Moody  Church 
in  Chicago  without  hearing  tens,  scores,  perhaps  hundreds 
of  prayers  requested  and  offered  for  sick  people,  and  all  peo- 
ple familiar  with  the  life  of  that  great  church  know  that 
God  hears  and  answers  prayer.  And  yet  my  friends  who 
have  become  Christian  Scientists  speak  as  if  nobody  ever 
knew  that  God  healed  diseases  until  Mrs.  Eddy  came  to  the 
front.  They  are  not  altogether  to  blame  for  there  has  been 
a  terrible  falling  away  on  the  part  of  the  Christian  church 
from  the  Scriptural  doctrine  respecting  diseases. 

Send  for  the  Elders  of  the  Church 

This  is  the  divine  direction  to  the  church, — ^when  saints 
are  sick,  send  for  the  elders  of  the  church.  Even  children 
know  that  the  rule  is  in  our  experience  to  send  for  the  doc- 
tor, and  to  send  to  the  drug  store  and  when  we  think  the 
patient  is  going  to  die,  to  send  for  the  preacher.  The  Rom- 
ish Church  has  hardened  this  into  a  ritual  and  when  the 
sick  person  is  supposed  to  be  dying,  in  place  of  praying  to 


The  "Why*'  of  Christian  Science  21^ 

God  to  Interfere,  they  put  on  a  little  oil  here  and  there  and 
mutter  some  unintelligible  words  and  say  that  they  have 
made  the  person  ready  to  pass  away. 

I  do  not  wish  to  speak  unkindly  of  the  Romish  Church. 
I  think  I  know  its  history  fairly  well  and  I  do  not  enjoy  it, 
but  I  have  friends  In  that  church,  very  dear  friends  whom 
I  highly  honor,  just  as  I  have  friends  in  other  communions 
which  I  cannot  approve,  who  I  know  are  good  people  and  I 
look  forward  with  longing  to  the  time  when  the  dross  and 
the  tin  and  the  wood  and  the  hay  and  the  stubble  of  human 
organizations  shall  be  consumed  and  when  only  the  gold, 
the  pure  gold  of  love  to  God  and  faith  In  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  care  for  suffering,  needy  men,  may  remain.  I  believe  if 
today  there  could  be  a  revival  of  Scripture  teaching  respect- 
ing sick  people  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Chris- 
tendom, it  would  Itself  produce  spiritual  revivals  every- 
where; in  fact,  I  do  not  think  the  revival  of  faith  for  heal- 
ing could  possibly  come  without  a  revival  of  obedience  and 
spiritual  life. 

I  believe  I  have  mentioned  elsewhere  how,  in  my  own 
experience,  God  said  to  me  when  I  wished  to  pray  for  a  sick 
one:  ''Have  you  confessed  your  faults?"  and  I  had  to  say, 
"No,"  and  how  He  said  to  me:  "Will  you  confess  your 
faults?"  And  I  said:  "I  will,"  and  how  I  did  and  how,  in 
answer  to  prayer,  healing  came  Into  my  home,  healing  with- 
out operation,  healing  without  medicine,  healing  by  the  act 
of  God.  The  fact  is,  that  sin  Is  the  occasion  of  sickness 
absolutely.  It  Is  not  true  that  the  sick  person  Is  always  the 
sinner.  In  multitudes  of  cases  the  sick  person  is  the  one 
who  Is  sinned  against  and  the  sinner  Is  the  one  who  Is  not 
sick,  but  always  the  source  of  sickness  Is  sin.  I  do  not  for- 
get  that   Jesus   said,    respecting   the   man   born    blind,   that 


2j6  Getting  Things  From  God 

neither  he  nor  his  parents  had  sinned  as  the  cause  of  that 
particular  affliction.  That  was  all  true;  nevertheless  sin 
caused  that  blindness. 

But  for  the  entry  of  sin  into  the  world,  how  fair  and 
beautiful  the  human  race  would  be!  As  sin  is  banished  and 
righteousness  prevails  and  faith  in  Christ  comes  in,  how  fair 
and  beautiful  the  human  race  becomes!  Who  ever  saw  or 
cares  to  see  a  more  beautiful  sight  than  a  group  of  little 
children  who  have  not  yet  come  to  know  the  bitterness  of 
departure  from  God,  playing  upon  a  lav/n?  They  are  like 
flowers  of  Paradise  and  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  we  older 
people,  by  His  divine  grace  and  power,  should  become  like 
them.  We  also  may  be  fair  and  beautiful  in  the  eyes  of 
God. 

Nature  Abhors  a  Vacuum 

But  the  church  had  forgotten  her  privileges,  and  cruelty, 
unbelief,  earthliness  had  taken  the  place  of  spiritual  life  and 
fervor.  In  such  dark  times  of  course  men  must  deal  with 
sickness  as  well  as  they  can  and  their  dealing  was  very 
poor  on  the  whole,  and  therefore,  because  there  must  be 
some  relief  for  human  nature,  Satan  comes  in  and  establishes 
the  system  called  Christian  Science.  He  begins  by  an  af- 
fectation of  honoring  God.  "God  is  all."  And  then  he  goes 
on  to  say  that  since  God  is  all,  and  God  is  sinless,  there  can 
be  no  sin,  and  since  God  is  always  well,  there  can  be  no 
sickness,  and  since  God  can  never  die,  there  can  be  no  death. 

These  great  terrors  of  the  human  race  are  illusions  of 
mortal  mind  and  since  sin  Is  an  Illusion  of  mortal  mind,  of 
course,  there  Is  no  Saviour  needed  and  since  material  be;ng 
is  an  Illusion  of  mortal  mind,  of  course,  God  was  never 
manifest  in  the  flesh.  Oh  the  horrible  pity  of  the  whole  mess 
of  falsehood  which  is  cloaked  in  ambiguous  and  uncertain 


The  ''Why'*  oj  Christian  Science  217 

phrases  and  launched  upon  the  long-suffering  sons  of  man. 
Unless  we  had  seen  these  things  with  our  own  eyes,  we 
could  not  believe  them  possible.  Unless  God  shall  interfere, 
they  will  deceive  even  the  very  elect.  I  believe  with  my 
whole  soul  that  if  the  church  will  return  to  God,  if  ministers 
will  confess  their  pride,  their  vanity,  their  love  of  the  world, 
their  love  of  human  approbation,  and  humble  themselves  be- 
fore God,  if  greedy,  avaricious,  vain,  selfish,  worldly  church 
members  will  put  aside  their  earthliness  and  drink  in  the 
spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  meek  and  lowly,  who  was  a 
man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief,  who  bore  stripes 
that  other  people  deserved,  and  carried  burdens  that  were 
not  of  His  own  making,  if  for  an  hour  the  church  members 
of  our  countr^^  could  drink  into  this  Spirit,  the  Spirit  of  the 
loving  Jesus,  that  miracles  of  grace  would  be  wrought. 

In  the  first  place,  such  a  revival  would  go  iar  to  pre- 
vent disease  of  any  kind, — no  vile  tenement,  no  unpaved 
streets,  no  factory  dens  v/here  men  and  women  and  little  chil- 
dren should  be  slowly  murdered  day  by  day  in  order  that 
the  owners  might  have  money  enough  to  live  in  luxuries, 
and  oftentimes  in  lusts,  raising  sons  and  daughters, — lazy, 
vain,  proud,  w^orthless,  a  disgrace  to  all  connected  with  them, 
a  menace  to  the  world.  Oh  if  we  might  attain  to  the  life 
of  Christ! 

Not  a  great  while  since,  someone  was  asked  if  he  thought 
the  Christian  religion  was  a  failure,  and  he  replied:  "No,  it 
has  never  been  tried."  It  has  been  tried;  it  has  been  tried 
in  multitudes  of  instances  and  it  has  always  worked.  It 
has  never  failed.  It  never  will  fail.  It  cannot  fail  for  God 
is  in  it,  but  this  poor,  halt,  maimed,  blind,  lame  imitation 
of  Christianity  has  always  failed  and  always  will  fail  and 
ought  to  fail,  for  it  is  a  hypocrisy,  it  is  a  pretence,  it  is  an 


2i8  '         Getting  Things  From  God 

offense  to  God  and  It  is  a  scandal  among  men.  Let  us,  so 
far  as  God  gives  us  power,  preach  the  whole  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Let  us  teach  men  that  He  is  our  Saviour,  our 
Sanctifier,  our  Healer,  our  coming  King.  If  this  message 
is  honestly  proclaimed,  sounded  out  in  teaching  and  preach- 
ing, and  sung  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  it  will  do  today 
exactly  the  work  which  it  did  in  former  times.  It  is  just 
as  powerful  now  as  it  ever  was  and  no  man  will  ever  hon- 
estly give  it  a  trial  without  admitting  that  the  gospel  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  everyone  who  believes. 


PART  FOUR 

HOW  DOES  GOD  ANSWER 
PRAYER  ? 


Chapter  I 
BY  CHANGING  THOSE  WHO  PRAY 


FOREWORD 

**A  Neiv  Surrender  to  Christ. — You  may  have  used 
these  words  'surrender'  and  'consecration'  many  times,  but 
without  rightly  understanding  what  they  mean.  As  you 
have  been  brought  by  the  teaching  of  Romans  7  to  a  com- 
plete sense  of  the  hopelessness  of  leading  a  true  Christian 
life,  or  a  true  prayer-life,  by  your  own  efforts,  so  you 
feel  that  the  Lord  Jesus  must  take  you  up,  by  His  own 
power,  in  an  entirely  new  way;  and  must  take  possession 
of  you,  by  His  Spirit,  in  an  entirely  new  measure.  This 
alone  can  preserve  you  from  constantly  sinning  afresh. 
This  only  can  make  you  really  victorious.  This  leads 
you  to  look  away  from  yourself,  really  to  get  free  from 
yourself,  and  to  expect  everything  from  the  Lord  Jesus. 

"If  we  begin  to  understand  this,  we  are  prepared  to 
admit  that  in  our  nature  there  is  nothing  good,  that  it  is 
under  a  curse,  and  is  nailed  with  Christ  to  His  Cross. 
We  come  to  see  what  Paul  means  when  he  says  that  we 
are  dead  to  sin  by  the  death  of  Christ.  Thus  do  we 
obtain  a  share  of  the  glorious  resurrection  life  there  is 
in  Him.  By  such  an  insight  we  are  encouraged  to  be- 
lieve that  Christ,  through  His  life  in  us,  through  His 
continual  indwelling,  can  keep  us.  Just  as,  at  our  con- 
version, we  had  no  rest  till  we  knew  He  had  received 
us — -so  now  we  feel  the  need  of  coming  to  Hirr,  to  re- 
ceive from  Him  the  assurance  that  He  has  really  under- 
taken to  keep  us  by  the  power  of  His  resurrection  life."— 
Andrew  Murray, 


CHAPTER  I 
BY  CHANGING  THOSE  WHO  PRAY 

SOME  persons  who  do  not  believe  that  God  answers 
prayer  by  bestowing  things  asked,  teach  us  that  the 
value  of  prayer  Is  that  It  changes  our  own  attitude. 
They  look  upon  It  like  the  exercises  of  a  gymnasium,  which 
are  not  Intended  to  be  fruitful  except  in  the  lives  of  those 
who  take  them.  Men  who  believe  that  God  answers  prayer, 
look  upon  praying  as  the  farmer  does  upon  his  plowing, 
sowing  and  reaping.  He  plows  and  sows  and  reaps  not  for 
exercise,  not  to  put  his  body  in  condition,  but  to  get  wheat 
or  oats  or  rye.  The  business  man  who  goes  to  the  gym- 
nasium takes  his  exercises  not  for  the  sake  of  making  arti- 
cles to  sell  or  for  the  sake  of  selling  articles,  but  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  his  body  in  condition  so  that  he  may 
do  the  work  of  life  with  comfort  and  efficiency. 

I  have  already  said  that  God  has  so  constituted  the  human 
race  that  they  naturally  reject  unmixed  error.  It  Is  safe 
to  say  that  there  never  has  been  a  prevailing  faith  of  any 
kind  which  does  not  contain  some  elements  of  truth  and  so 
here,  as  elsewhere,  the  above  Is  a  partial  statement  of  the 
facts  in  the  case.  It  does  change  men  to  pray  and  the  change 
which  is  wrought  in  them  is  one  of  the  ways  in  which  God 
answers  their  prayers. 

Adoration 
The   old    divines    divided    prayer   into    adoration,   confes- 
sion, submission,  petition  and  thanksgiving.     Every  one  of 

221 


222  ,        Getting  Things  From  God 

these  states  of  mind  is  an  essential  element  of  real  prayer, 
and  each  one  oi  them  naturally  tends  to  the  securing  of  all 
sorts  of  good  by  the  one  who  prays.  Suppose,  for  example, 
that  I  am  in  need  of  money  and  I  ask  God  to  give  me  money. 
I  really  pray  for  it.  I  ask  for  it  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  I 
ask  for  it  with  thanksgiving.  I  ask  for  it  with  submission. 
I  ask  for  it  w^ith  fixed  contemplation  of  the  being  and  attri- 
butes of  God.  I  adore  Him.  What  must  be  the  spiritual 
effect  of  time  spent  in  this  manner?  Beyond  doubt  It  clarifies 
the  mind,  it  unburdens  the  heart,  it  stimulates  all  the  energies, 
it  puts  one  In  condition  for  effective  service.  It  rejuvenates. 
Going  from  such  a  season  as  this — one  naturally  takes  hold 
of  his  business  In  a  more  effective  manner  than  was  possible 
when  his  mind  was  fixed  on  lesser  things.  Such  a  time  of 
waiting  before  God  happifies  and  this  in  Itself  tends  to  se- 
cure favor  from  men, — opportunities  for  advance.  There  Is 
no  duty  In  human  life  which  can  be  performed  so  well 
when  one  Is  dwelling  upon  the  petty,  upon  the  imperfect,  as 
when  he  Is  meditating  the  character  and  work  of  God.  It 
is  therefore  true  that  prayer  Is  a  spiritual  gymnastic.  It  Is 
far  more  than  this,  but  this  it  certainly  Is,  and  this  is  one 
way  in  which  God  answers  our  prayers. 

Confession 
Nothing  cripples  like  unconfessed  sin.  There  are  ten  thou- 
sand men  walking  the  streets  of  any  great  city  today,  burdened 
and  unfit  for  going  on,  simply  because  they  have  neglected 
or  refused  to  confess  their  faults,  their  sins.  The  reason 
why  men  who  have  been  far  gone  In  sin  are  so  filled  with 
gladness  when  they  are  saved.  Is  because  as  a  rule  they  very 
frankly  and  fully  confess  their  shortcomings.  Men  who 
have  lived  an  outw^ardly  decent  life  are  oftentimes  held  back 


By  Changing  Those  Who  Pray  22^ 

from  this  kind  of  confession.  Men  whose  characters  and 
reputations  have  been  destroyed,  who  have  become  ragged 
and  filthy  because  of  their  sinful  lives,  are  saved  from  the 
temptation  to  cover  up  their  sins.  Their  evil  doings  are 
obvious.  They  lie  on  the  very  surface.  The  world  knows 
them  for  what  they  have  been  and  when  Jesus  changes 
them  they  do  not  attempt  to  hide  the  fact  that  they  owe  a 
great  debt  for  a  tremendous  salvation. 

David  said  that  when  he  kept  silence  his  bones  waxed 
old  through  his  sorrow  all  the  day  long  (Psa.  32:3).  And 
then  he  goes  on  to  say  that  he  made  confession  of  his  sin 
and  came  into  condition  for  service  again.  Just  so  he  says 
in  Psalm  51:  "Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation. 
Then  will  I  teach  transgressors  thy  ways"  (vv.  12,  13). 
That  is,  when  the  joy  of  salvation  returned,  he  could  go  to 
work  for  God  and  it  is  also  true  that  he  could  go  to  work 
for  himself.    It  is  difficult  for  most  men  to  confess  their  sins. 

Francis  Murphy,  the  great  temperance  advocate,  said: 
"The  three  most  difficult  words  in  the  English  language  to 
pronounce  are  *I  was  wrong.'  "  [I  have  mentioned  this  before 
but  its  importance  deserves  repetition].  These  words  are 
not  only  difficult — they  are  fundamentally  Important.  If 
men  will  not  acknowledge  their  sins,  God  cannot  grant  their 
requests.  Many  years  ago  I  heard  a  minister  say:  "If  there 
is  a  piece  of  lead  weighing  a  pound,  at  the  bottom  of  a 
pitcher,  you  may  pump  the  Atlantic  Ocean  into  that  pitcher, 
but  you  cannot  fill  it  until  you  take  the  lead  out."  Just  so 
he  said  there  are  sins  in  the  lives  of  men.  They  lie  in  the 
memory  a  dark  and  heavy  dead  thing.  The  hearts  of  such 
persons  can  never  be  filled  with  joy  and  peace,  they  can 
never  be  fit  to  do  their  own  work  or  to  do  God's  work 


22/^  .        Getting  Things  From  God 

until  the  "lead"  is  removed  by  an  honest  confession.     It  is 
wonderful  and  it  works. 

Men  who  will  confess  their  sins  can  make  advances,  and 
men  who  will  not  confess  their  sins  can  make  no  solid  ad- 
vances. The  meditation  on  the  character  and  attributes  of 
God  naturally  leads  us  to  think  of  our  own  shortcomings, 
misgivings,  failures.  If  we  can  only  be  frank  and  free  in 
speaking  of  them  to  God,  we  come  into  the  state  of  peace 
and  rest,  and  coming  into  this  state,  we  are  ready  for  any- 
thing. We  can  do  or  suffer  triumphantly  when  the  con- 
science has  been  cleared  by  honest  confession  and  the  blood 
of  Christ. 

Submission 

Another  thing  which  prayer  does  for  men  is,  to  bring 
them  into  a  state  of  honest  and  happy  submission  to  God. 
When  men  reflect  upon  what  God  is  and  upon  what  they 
are,  and  honestly  confess  their  own  failures  in  view  of  God's 
character,  they  naturally  find  it  easy  to  submit  to  the  will 
of  God.  This  is  another  source  of  peace,  of  restfulness,  and 
when  we  rest  we  gather  energy, — we  become  fit.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  one  of  the  most  common  sources  of  weakness  and 
incapacity  is  a  restless  fretting,  a  secret  rebellion  against  the 
will  and  plan  of  God. 

Here  is  a  mother  praying  for  a  sick  child,  and  she  really 
prays.  She  adores ;  she  confesses.  By  and  by  she  will  come 
to  submit,  if  she  continues  to  adore  and  to  confess, 
and  w^hen  she  really  submits,  when  she  comes  to  say: 
"Not  my  will,  but  thine,"  she  will  be  a  thousand  times 
more  competent  to  care  for  her  sick  child  than  when  she  is 
really,  even  if  unconsciously,  rebelling  against  the  plan  of 
God.     Her  own  nerves  will  quiet,  her  own  eyesight  will 


By  Changing  Those  Who  Pray  22$ 

clear.  Her  own  courage  will  stay  and  by  the  ver}'  change 
produced  in  herself,  it  is  entirely  possible  that  God  may  save 
the  life  of  her  child. 

Take  the  case  of  a  man  who  desires  a  certain  position. 
Motives  are  mixed.  There  is  an  element  of  the  divine. 
There  is  an  element  of  the  human.  The  position  is  attrac- 
tive, the  compensation  may  be  large,  the  associations  may  be 
desirable.  At  the  same  time  opportunity  for  service  may  be 
great  and  the  man  himself  may  find  these  varj-ing  motives 
so  entangled  that  he  cannot  exactly  say  which  one  is  pre- 
dominant. But  coming  before  God  for  this  position  which 
he  desires,  he  thinks  of  God  as  Maker  and  Ruler  of  the 
universe,  as  high  and  holy  and  lifted  up.  He  thinks  of  him- 
self as  sinful  by  nature,  as  having  oftentimes  added  to  the 
sinfulness  of  his  nature  the  guilt  of  actual  transgression.  He 
becomes  submissive.  He  puts  himself  at  the  disposal  of  God. 
He  consents  to  what  the  providence  of  God  shall  reveal. 
Cannot  anyone  see  that  under  these  circumstances  the  man 
is  more  likely  to  secure  what  he  deserves  than  if,  with  a  stiff 
neck  and  a  high  head  and  an  unsubmissive  heart,  he  were  to 
struggle  for  it  ?  The  very  state  of  mind  into  which  he  comes 
will,  if  you  allow  the  expression,  make  it  more  possible  for 
God  to  give  the  thing  w^hich  he  desires. 

Asking  Things  From  God 

It  is  this  which  is  the  principal  element  in  prayer,  though 
the  other  items  w^hich  have  been  mentioned  are,  either  in 
conscious  or  unconscious  form,  necessary  precedent  conditions, 
but  if  there  is  no  request,  there  is  no  prayer,  and  meditation 
upon  the  character  of  God,  upon  our  own  characters  and 
humble  submission  to  God  inclines  us  to  ask  things  from  him 
and  enables  us  joyfully  and  perseveringly  to  do  it.     "Ye  have 


S26  Getting  Things  From  God 

not,  because  ye  do  not  ask'*  (James  4:2).  The  Holy  Spirit 
thus  recorded  the  failure  of  men  and  women  who  thought 
they  prayed  thousands  of  years  ago,  and  this  difficulty  still 
remains.    The  poet  says : 

"Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire, 
Uttered  or  unexpressed." 

But  sincere  desire  does  not  mean  simply  wanting  things. 
It  means  desiring  things  when  we  have  in  mind  the  great- 
ness and  goodness  of  God,  our  own  ill  desert,  and  an  humble 
willingness  to  receive  the  thing  that  God  chooses  to  send. 
Men  do  not  desire  the  same  things  in  all  states  of  mind. 
The  differences  between  men  are  very  largely  in  their  desires 
and  their  desires  are  occasioned  by  their  characters.  Men 
desire  different  things  because  they  are  different  persons,  and 
men  who  desire  with  a  proper  thought  of  God  desire  and 
ask  in  a  totally  different  manner  from  that  employed  by  dif- 
ferent sorts  of  people.  Some  do  not  ask  because  they  are  too 
proud  to  ask.  They  do  not  realize  the  difference  between 
themselves  and  God.  Some  do  not  ask  because  they  rely 
upon  their  own  efforts  to  secure  the  thing  which  they  desire. 
Some  do  not  ask  because  they  are  not  in  condition  to  ask. 
A  child  in  rebellion  against  his  father  will  never  be  free  in 
his  petitions,  but  a  loving  child  who  knows  the  power  and 
goodness  of  his  father  and  his  own  helplessness,  and  is  will- 
ing that  his  father  should  do  what  he  wills,  is  in  good  condi- 
tion to  make  requests,  and  I  can  testify  from  experience,  as 
many  other  fathers  can,  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  refuse 
the  request  of  such  a  child. 

"Ye  have  not,  because  ye  do  not  ask"  (James  4:2). 
What  a  complete  explanation  of  the  failure  of  the  prayer 
lives  of  men,  ?\s  well  as  of  their  failures  In  other  respects  is 


By  Changing  Those  Who  Pray  22j 

found  in  these  words.  I  do  not  think;  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  this  expression  had  in  mind  unsaved  people.  The  Bible 
was  (most  of  it)  written  for  persons  who  were  at  heart  right 
with  God.  The  Bible  message  to  an  unrepentant  sinner  is 
very  short.  God  does  not  have  a  great  deal  to  say  to  him. 
**Repent,  and  believe  the  gospel"  is  pretty  much  all  that  he 
•needs  to  hear,  but  we  children, — babes  in  the  house  of  God, 
— need  to  learn  to  walk,  we  need  to  learn  to  talk,  we  need 
to  learn  to  take  hold  of  things.  We  need  to  come  into  the 
stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ  (Eph.  4:  13). 

This  is  why  there  is  so  much  reproof,  so  much  example, 
so  much  encouragement  for  us  in  the  Word  of  God,  and 
among  other  things,  this  is  why  we  are  reminded  that  wt 
fail  to  receive  things  because  we  fail  to  ask  for  things.  I 
am  sure  that  I  have  a  thousand  times  failed  to  receive  good 
gifts  from  God,  because  I  did  not  ask,  and  in  many  of  these 
cases  my  failure  w^as  thoughtlessness,  natural  impulse  to 
work  myself — a  failure  to  adore,  to  confess  and  to  submit, 
all  of  which  things  would  naturally  have  led  me  to  ask  for 
the  things  which  I  needed  and  really  desired  rather  than  to 
seek  to  obtain  them  for  myself. 

With  Thanksgiving 
I  have  mentioned  the  duty  of  thanksgiving  before.  I  do 
not  deal  with  it  in  any  extended  fashion  at  this  time,  but  I 
mention  it  because  I  am  trying  to  show  how  God  answers 
prayer.  He  answers  prayer  by  working  changes  in  us,  among 
other  things,  and  these  changes  which  He  works  in  us  are 
not  chance  happenings  but  are  wrought  in  accordance  with 
the  laws  by  which  He  governs  the  material  and  spiritual 
world.  The  soul  which  adores,  which  confesses  failure, 
which  offers  up  its  submissions  and  which  makes  its  requests 


228  '        Getting  Things  From  God 

to  God,  will  have  abundant  occasions  for  thanksgiving  and 
w^ill  be  enabled  to  give  thanks. 

"Nor  is  the  least  a  thankful  heart, 
Which  takes  those  gifts  vi^ith  joy." 

Indeed,  this  is  one  of  the  great  gifts  of  God, — a  thank* 
ful  heart.  We  oftentimes  assume  the  things  v^^hich  require 
most  care  and  many  times  we  care  for  things  which  may  be 
assumed.  How  many  times  have  you  heard  a  person  pray 
for  grace  to  be  grateful  ?  How  many  times  have  you  prayed 
for  power  to  sympathize?  How  many  times  have  you  prayed 
for  a  praiseful  heart?  Sam  Jones  used  to  say  that  there 
were  two  parts  to  man's  relations  to  God, — man's  part  and 
God's  part.  He  said  men  are  all  the  while  assuming  that 
their  part  is  well  done  and  they  are  very  much  afraid  that 
God  will  fail  in  His,  whereas  the  fact  is,  that  God  never 
fails  at  all, — that  the  failure,  if  there  is  any,  is  on  our  part. 

I  remember  to  have  heard  a  brother  minister  at  the  fun- 
eral of  a  little  child  say:  *'Lord,  teach  us  to  S5^mpathize." 
It  was  a  helpful  word  to  me.  I  saw  that  I  did  not  know. 
I  knew  a  dear  saint  who  lived  a  long  life  under  circum- 
stances of  great  tribulation,  whose  habit  it  was  to  begin  her 
testimony  in  the  prayer  meeting  with  the  words:  '1  pray  for 
strength  to  praise  my  God."  These  are  w^ise  words  and  it 
would  be  eminently  wise  if  we  should  pray  more  than  we 
do  for  thankful  hearts  and  for  the  gift  of  expressing  our 
thankfulness,  and  while  this  duty  is  pre-eminently  one  which 
we  owe  to  God,  it  is  also  a  duty  to  the  many  about  us  who 
contribute  to  our  well  being.  I  wish  that  into  the  lives  of 
all  who  read  these  words  there  might  come  a  storm  of 
thanksgiving. 

I  am  sure  that  one  of  the  griefs  of  God  and  good  people 


By  Changing  Those  Who  Pray  22g 

IS  that  men  so  seldom  and  in  such  stinted  fashion  express 
the  thanksgiving  which  perhaps  in  a  blind,  half-hearted  way 
they  feel.  What  husband  is  there  who  does  not  owe  his  wife 
ten  thousand  thanksgivings  for  the  patient,  loving  service  of 
years?  What  wife  who  does  not  at  times  cause  her  husband 
to  wonder  whether  she  really  does  appreciate  the  patient  la- 
bor that  brings  the  comforts  into  the  home  for  her  and  her 
children.  What  parent  Is  there  who  has  not  a  right  at  times 
to  think  that  his  children  do  not  appreciate  the  loving  care 
which  has  watched  over  them  from  the  beginning  in  their 
homes.  What  children  are  there  who  do  not  render  ten 
thousand  little  services  to  father  and  mother,  for  w^hich  they 
receive  scanty,  if  any  thanks  at  all,  and  who  of  all  of  us  is 
there  who  does  not  have  a  great  amount  of  thanksgiving 
due  to  God? 

I  was  once  leading  a  special  meeting  for  a  few  weeks 
and  I  said  to  the  young  people:  "We  have  prayed  a  good 
deal  first  and  last.  Let  us  make  this  meeting  a  thanksgiv- 
ing meeting."  And  I  w^ent  through  the  hymn  book  which 
we  were  using  at  that  time  to  select  praiseful  hymns.  As 
I  recall,  there  were  something  like  three  hundred  hymns  in 
that  book  and  I  had  hard  w^ork  to  find  a  dozen  that  were 
really  hymns  of  praise.  There  were  lots  of  prayers,  there 
were  lots  of  exhortations,  there  w^ere  a  great  number  of  sen- 
timental ditties  of  one  kind  and  another,  but  real  praise  to 
God  for  His  patient  forbearing  love  and  His  ceaseless,  watch- 
ful care,  was  almost  wanting. 

Is  not  this  enough  to  break  the  heart  even  of  the  Al- 
mighty that  there  is  such  a  stinted  return  for  the  unnumbered 
blessings  which  He  pours  upon  us,  and  is  this  not  one  of  the 
evils  in  our  lives  w^hlch  is  cured  by  prayer?  It  is  true  that 
prayer  is  a  mental  gymnastic.     It  is  true  that  It  does  bring 


2^0  Getting  Things  From  God 

us  into  a  state  of  mind  and  heart  where  we  are  fitted  to  do 
life's  work  and  to  receive  God's  goodness  in  some  way  that 
shall  really  accomplish  what  the  will  of  God  desires.  This 
is  not  all  the  truth,  but  it  is  a  part  of  the  truth  and  those 
who  emphasize  it  do  right  if  they  do  not  join  with  it  erro- 
neous teaching  respecting  other  parts  of  the  prayer  life. 


Chapter  II 

BY  DIRECTING  MINDS  TO 
SOURCES  OF  HELP 


FOREWORD 

"Oh,  think  over  the  holiness  of  God,  and  bow  in  lowli- 
ness before  Kim,  till  your  heart  is  filled  with  the  assur- 
ance of  what  the  Holy  One  will  do  for  you.  Take  a  week, 
if  necessary,  to  read  and  re-read  the  words  of  God  on 
this  great  truth,  till  your  heart  is  brought  under  the 
conviction:  'This  is  the  glory  of  the  inner  chamber,  to 
converse  with  God  the  Holy  One ;  to  bow  in  deep  humility 
and  shame  before  Him,  because  we  have  so  despised  Him 
and  His  love  through  our  prayerlessness.'  There  we 
shall  receive  the,  assurance  that  He  will  again  take  us 
into  fellowship  with  Himself.  No  one  can  expect  to  un- 
derstand and  receive  the  holiness  of  God  who  is  not 
often  and  long  alone  with  God. 

"Some  one  has  said  that  the  holiness  of  God  is  the  ex- 
pression of  the  unspeakable  distance  by  which  He  in  His 
righteousness  is  separated  from  us,  and  yet  also  of  the 
unspeakable  nearness  in  which  He  in  His  love  longs  to 
hold  fellowship  with  us,  and  dwell  in  us.  Bow  in  hum- 
ble reverence,  as  you  think  of  the  immeasurable  distance 
between  you  and  God.  Bow  in  childlike  confidence  in 
the  unspeakable  desire  of  his  love  to  be  united  with  you 
in  the  deepest  intimacy;  and  reckon  most  confidently  on 
Him  to  reveal  something  of  His  holiness  to  the  soul  which 
thirsts  after  Him,  and  waits  upon  Him,  and  is  quiet  before 
Him." — Andreiv  Murray. 


CHAPTER  II 
EY  DIRECTING  MINDS  TO  SOURCES  OF  HELP 

AVERY  dear  friend  of  mine,  who  Is  a  very  success- 
ful physician,  told  me  that  early  in  his  career  he 
was  called  to  visit  a  little  girl  who  w^as  critically 
ill.  He  said  that  he  honestly  cared  for  her  as  well  as  he 
knew  how  and  every  day  it  seemed  that  she  was  marching 
steadily  down  to  the  grave.  He  was  distressed  on  many 
accounts.  It  was  hard  to  see  the  little  thing  suffer;  it  was 
hard  to  see  the  sufferings  of  her  parents.  He  knew  that  if 
she  should  die  it  would  be  mentioned  to  his  discredit  as  a 
physician.  There  would  be  a  loss  of  reputation  and  a  con- 
sequent loss  of  income.  For  all  these  reasons  and  others  he 
desired  that  the  little  girl  might  recover  and  ever>'thlng 
which  he  knew  how  to  do,  he  did,  and  all  seemed  unavailing. 
In  this  state  of  mind  and  heart  he  went  into  his  back 
office,  shut  the  door  and  locked  it,  and  kneeling  before  God, 
said  to  Him:  "Father,  please  show  me  what  that  little  girl 
needs.  I  do  not  know  how  to  help  her."  Waiting  there  be- 
fore God,  his  mind  was  directed  to  a  remedy  of  which  he 
had  read,  but  which  he  had  never  known  to  be  employed, 
which,  of  course,  he  had  never  employed  himself.  Rising 
from  his  knees,  he  went  at  once  and  prepared  a  portion  of 
that  remedy.  Calling  a  messenger,  he  sent  It  to  the  house 
with  directions  to  throw  away  all  the  medicines  which  he 
had  left  and  employ  this  one.  It  was  the  one  thing  in  the 
universe  of  God  which  was  prepared  for  a  human  body  suf- 

233 


2^4  '         Getting  Things  From  God 

fering  in  the  particular  way  in  which  that  little  child  was 
afflicted. 

At  once  there  was  improvement  and  improvement  passed 
on  to  complete  recovery,  to  the  joy  and  help  of  all  concerned. 

A  Bit  of  Roasted  Flour 

H.  L.  Hastings  of  Boston,  author  of  lectures  on  the 
Bible,  and  editor  for  many  years  of  "The  Christian,"  told 
me  that  at  one  time  his  wife  was  sick  and  near  to  death. 
Prayer  was  offered  without  ceasing  and  apparently  without 
avail.  Remedies  which  seemed  appropriate  were  used  but  all 
were  apparently  useless.  Step  by  step  she  went  down  toward 
death.  In  a  great  agony  of  spirit  he  went  apart  to  pray, 
and  as  he  prayed  he  remembered  that  he  had  heard  that  flour, 
browned  in  a  pan,  could  be  retained  by  the  stomach  when 
nothing  else  could  be.  His  wife  had  for  days  been  so  that 
clear  water  was  instantly  rejected.  She  had  not  retained  a 
particle  of  solid  food  for  days  and  was  lying  as  one  without 
any  hope,  physically  speaking. 

After  having  prepared  this  browned  flour,  he  gave  her  a 
small  portion  from  a  teaspoon,  and  she  retained  it.  Shortly 
thereafter  he  gave  her  more  which  also  she  retained.  It  was 
the  beginning  of  a  complete  recovery.  I  suppose  she  lived 
in  the  neighborhood  of  thirty  years  after  that  time.  I  my- 
self held  meetings  with  her  son  and  herself  after  the  death 
of  Mr.  Hastings.  She  was  then  in  vigorous  life  and  greatly 
used  in  work  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Without  Solicitation 
This  is  perhaps  as  good  a  place  as  any  to  discuss  more 
fully   than    I   have   hitherto   the   question   whether  all   the 
Lord's  people  should  follow  the  example  of  George  Miiller, 


By  Directing  Minds  to  Sources  of  Help         235 

J.  Hudson  Taylor,  and  others,  and  rely  for  carrying  on  the 
work  entrusted  to  them  on  prayer  alone,  or  should  also  speak 
concerning  the  work  of  God  to  His  people.  I  believe  I  have 
in  another  chapter  spoken  of  two  mottoes,  the  one,  "Trust 
God";  the  other,  "Trust  God,  and  tell  His  children."  Both 
Mr.  Taylor  and  Mr.  MiiUer  believed  in  informing  the 
Lord's  people  respecting  the  work  committed  to  them.  The 
question  was  whether  having  given  the  information,  they 
should  then  say  to  one  or  more  of  the  Lord's  people:  "We 
should  be  glad  of  your  assistance  in  this  enterprise,"  or 
should  leave  the  Holy  Spirit  to  direct  Christians  interested 
to  such  conclusions  as  He  desired  them  to  make.  I  think 
this  makes  the  question  clear. 

If  I  need, — say  one  thousand  dollars  to  finance  a  tract 
work  or  to  do  anything  else,  should  I  ask  God  for  the  money 
and  there  stop?  Should  I  inform  His  people  respecting  the 
need  and  there  stop,  or  should  I  ask  God,  inform  His  peo- 
ple, and  say  to  one  or  more  of  them :  "We  should  be  glad  of 
your  assistance  in  this  work."  Respecting  the  first  and  sec- 
ond steps,  I  suppose  all  Christians  will  agree;  at  least  I  do 
not  know  any  of  them  who  object  to  either  of  these  things. 

The  third  point  is  the  one  of  difference.  Let  me  first 
say  that  as  in  the  case  of  healing,  so  here  in  the  case  of  provi- 
sion for  temporal  needs,  I  hold  that  all  that  is  accomplished 
in  any  good  work  is  from  God.  It  is  true  that  if  men  solicit 
money,  and  if  in  answer  to  their  requests  moneys  are  given, 
some  persons  will  attribute  the  result  to  the  men.  This  has 
always  seemed  to  me  a  foolish  proceeding  and  a  sort  of  athe- 
ism and  blasphemy,  for  all  persons  who  are  fairly  intelligent 
about  such  work  know  that  there  are  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  cases  where  men  do  solicit  unavailingly.  There  are 
Other  cases  where  solicitation  is  wonderfully  effective  often- 


2^6  Getting  Things  From  God 

times;  the  results  are  a  surprise  to  both  parties,  very  many 
times  to  the  solicitor,  many  times  to  the  solicited. 

What  now  makes  the  difference  between  the  cases  where 
the  result  is  favorable  and  those  instances  where  it  is  un- 
favorable? I  do  not  see  how  anyone  is  to  avoid  taking  God 
into  the  account  here.  Certainly  I  do,  and  if  a  man  tells  me 
that  he  has  raised  a  certain  sum  of  money,  I  always  feel  as 
I  do  when  a  doctor  tells  me  that  he  has  healed  a  sick  per- 
son. I  do  not  believe  that  any  doctor  ever  healed  any  sick 
person,  or  ever  will,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  any  good  man 
ever  raised  money  for  a  good  cause,  himself  alone  consid- 
ered. All  our  works  are  wrought  in  God.  ''Every  good 
gift  and  every  perfect  gift  is  from  above,  and  cometh  down 
from  the  Father  of  lights,  with  whom  is  no  variableness, 
neither  shadow  of  turning"  (James  1 :17).  How  absurd  to 
the  verge  of  blasphemy  for  men  to  attribute  the  favorable 
results  of  their  activities  to  themselves! 

The  Corn  and  Wheat  Fields 
We  all  believe  that  In  order  to  raise  corn  and  wheat 
men  should  plow  and  plant  and  sow  and  cultivate  and 
gather  in.  This  is  a  commonplace.  We  all  know  that  if 
men  do  efficiently  and  faithfully  what  they  are  directed  to  do 
in  these  particulars,  God  frequently,  shall  I  say  usually, 
rewards  their  toil.  It  is  His  mode  of  administration.  He 
likes  to  see  men  industrious  and  He  likes  to  reward  indus- 
try and  He  does.  He  offers  no  premiums  on  laziness  and 
He  Is  offended  with  presumption.  Would  it  have  been  a 
good  thing  for  Mr.  Hastings,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  re- 
minded him  of  roasted  flour,  to  remain  on  his  knees,  praying 
God  to  heal  his  wife?  I  do  not  believe  it  and  I  think  if  he 
had  done  so  Mrs.  Hastings  would  have  died  at  that  time.   It 


By  Directing  Minds  to  Sources  of  Help  237 

seems  to  me  that  the  Holj^  Spirit  told  him  to  brown  the 
flour  and  give  it  to  her  and  that  a  failure  of  obedience 
would,  like  any  other  failure,  have  resulted  in  disaster. 

I  remember  some  years  ago  when  we  were  in  great  need 
of  money  at  the  college.  We  needed  it  for  almost  everything 
and  so  far  as  we  could  see,  there  was  nothing  before  us  but 
need.  Under  these  circumstances  a  gentleman  mentioned  to 
me  a  lady  living  in  Madison,  Wis.  I  had  never  heard  of 
her,  knew  nothing  about  her,  but  he  said  that  she  was  a 
good  woman,  that  she  had  means,  that  she  was  generous.  I 
sat  down  and  wrote  a  brief  letter,  telling  her  as  well  as  I 
could  our  situation,  and  soliciting  her  interest.  She  replied 
immediately  that  she  had  no  funds  available  at  that  time  but 
that  she  w^as  interested  and  thought  that  she  m'ght  there- 
after become  a  helper. 

It  was  only  a  little  time, — I  will  not  pretend  to  say 
how  long — before  I  received  word  from  her  attorney  that 
she  had  made  an  appropriation  of  $1,000  for  this  work.  I 
prayed  in  those  days  as  I  do  now, —  I  try  to  pray  without 
ceasing.  In  som.e  measure  I  think  God  has  taught  me  how 
to  do  this,  not  so  fully  and  perfectly  as  I  hope  He  will,  but 
in  some  measure.  Would  it  have  been  an  exhibition  of 
faith  and  obedience  if  I  had  said  to  myself  when  this  lady 
was  mentioned  to  me,  or  had  said  to  my  friend:  "I  pray 
God  to  help.  I  do  not  believe  in  talking  to  people.  If 
God  wishes  her  to  assist  us,  she  will  hear  of  us  in  some  way 
and  will  do  it."  I  do  not  believe  that  this  would  have  been 
pleasing  to  God,  and  I  do  not  for  an  instant  attribute  her 
gift  to  my  own  exertions.  I  do  not  admit  that  the  work 
was  in  any  respect  less  than  the  work  of  God  because  I  did 
what  I  think  He  told  me  to  do  in  the  premises. 

I  remember  when  I  was  praying  for  the  recovery  of  Mrs. 


2^8  '      Getting  Things  From  God 

Blanchard,  who  had  been  for  quite  a  while  seriously  ill,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  said  to  me:  "Have  you  confessed  your 
faults?"  I  said:  ''No."  He  then  asked  me  if  I  would 
do  it,  and  I  told  him  "Yes."  Supposing  I  had  declined  to 
obey  Him,  could  I  have  hoped  for  her  healing?  I  do  not 
think  so.  I  do  not  wish  anyone  to  receive  the  impression 
that  I  doubt  God's  ability  and  His  frequent  disposition  to 
help  people  directly.  I  think  I  have  made  myself  suffiicently 
clear  in  regard  to  this  point. 

I  believe  that  sick  people  are  healed,  that  moneys  are 
secured,  that  human  hearts  are  changed  oftentimes  with  no 
human  interposition  of  any  kind  whatsoever.  When  humaa 
agency  is  impossible  we  are  shut  up  to  prayer.  When  human 
agency  is  possible,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  directs  us  to  employ 
ft,  I  think  we  should  do  so,  always  remembering  that  all 
our  works  are  wrought  of  God. 

Deliverance  from  Sin 
Take  the  case  of  one  who  prays  for  sanctification  and 
who  becomes  sanctified,  who  secures  victory  over  the  world, 
the  flesh  and  Satan.  How  will  It  be  attained?  In  many 
instances,  no  doubt,  by  the  direct  impulse  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
at  other  times,  probably,  by  direction  to  sources  of  help 
which  may  properly  be  employed.  In  each  case  the  work 
is  wrought  of  God,  in  one  case  by  one  means,  In  another  case 
by  another  means. 

The  Healing  of  the  Blind  Man 
I  do  not  think  I  have  mentioned  in  this  book  a  fact  which 
I  have  frequently  stated,  that  the  different  methods  which 
Christ  employed  in  the  healing  of  the  blind  have  always 


By  Directing  Minds  to  Sources  of  Help  2^g 

seemed  to  me  significant  of  His  general  plan.  In  one  case, 
He  spoke  to  a  blind  man  and  sight  came  into  his  eyes.  In 
another  case,  He  touched  the  eyes  of  a  blind  man  and  spoke, 
and  he  saw.  In  another  case,  He  touched  the  eyes  of  a 
blind  man  once  and  he  saw  imperfectly.  He  touched  them 
again  and  he  saw  perfectly.  In  still  another  case,  He  m.ade 
clay  out  of  the  dust  and  placed  that  upon  the  blind  man's 
eyes  and  sent  him  to  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam,  and  he 
went  and  washed  and  came  seeing. 

No  one  who  believes  Jesusi  Christ  to  have  been  God 
can  doubt  His  ability  to  have  healed  these  four  persons  in 
the  same  manner,  yet  He  chose  four  methods.  Why?  I 
think  among  other  reasons  to  teach  us  that  He  is  not  shut 
up  to  single  ways  of  doing  things, — that  He  chooses  variety. 
He  puts  this  in  nature.  Study  the  clouds  In  a  summer  sky 
and  see  how  continually  they  change.  Study  the  flowers  in 
a  meadow.  Look  at  the  reds,  the  blues,  the  pinks,  the  yel- 
lows, the  scarlets.  Study  the  leaves,  not  only  on  the  differ- 
ent trees,  but  on  a  single  tree.  How  impossible  to  find 
two  which  exactly  correspond.  Look  at  the  fields.  See  the 
green,  the  light  green,  the  dark  green,  the  yellow.  Study 
the  trees  of  the  forest.  See  the  beeches,  the  maples,  the  pop- 
lars, the  oaks,  the  elms,  the  hemlocks,  the  pines,  the  cypress. 
Here  is  an  absolutely  endless  variety.  Why?  Because  God 
could  not  make  all  things  alike  if  He  had  pleased?  No  sane 
person  believes  it  for  a  moment.  But  we  have  this  variety, 
because  it  pleases  God  to  make  it. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  He  likes  to  see  it  as  I  do.  He 
says  that  men  are  created  in  His  image.  I  imagine  that  the 
things  which  please  us  in  this  wonderful  world  please  Him, 
— that  He  rejoices  in  His  works  as  His  children  do.  If 
this  is  true  in  the  world  of  things,  how"  much  more  true  in 


240  ,        Getting  Things  From  God 

the  world  of  rational  beings.    I  hear  men  talk  about  prayer 

frequently  and  they  lay  down  rules  and  methods.  They 
want  us  to  pray  in  this  way  and  in  that  way.  They  tell  us 
how  they  have  prayed,  how  other  people  have  prayed,  and 
running  through  the  whole  of  their  teaching  there  is  a 
strong  undertone  of  "Go  thou,  and  do  likewise."  I  do  not 
find  anything  of  the  sort  in  God's  Word.  I  do  not  believe 
it  is  the  divine  mind. 

It  is  true  that  we  are  to  be  followers  of  those  who 
through  faith  and  patience  have  inherited  the  promises.  We 
ought  to  be  their  followers.  It  is  also  true  that  as  many  as 
are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God  are  the  sons  of  God,  and  that 
all  the  sons  of  God  have  a  right  to  be  led  by  the  Spirit  of 
God.  I  do  not  try  to  pray  like  anybody.  I  try  to  pray 
the  way  God  wishes  me  to  pray.  Someone  may  say:  "Well, 
that  is  a  lazy  way  to  do.  If  you  would  pray  for  hours  and 
hours,  if  you  would  pray  all  night  or  all  day,  you  would 
get  on  with  your  work  far  better  than  you  do."  Possibly 
it  is  true — I  will  not  deny  it;  I  am  not  sure,  but  I  shall 
never  try  to  pray  all  night  because  somebody  else  did.  The 
example  of  Jesus  does  have  weight.  The  example  of  good 
men  has  weight,  but  the  only  teacher  who  can  teach  me 
infallibly  is  the  Spirit  of  God. 

If  He  tells  me  to  pray  all  night,  I  shall  try  to  do  it. 
I  will  do  it  as  faithfully  as  I  can.  If  He  tells  me  to  pray 
for  two  hours,  I  will  do  that.  I  do  not  doubt  that  occa- 
sionally in  a  public  meeting  the  Holy  Spirit  tells  men  to 
pray  at  length.  My  observation  has  led  me  to  believe  that 
long  prayers  in  the  midst  of  public  assemblies  are  almost 
always  a  blunder.  I  believe  they  are  very  seldom  divinely 
ordained.  I  have  real  sympathy  with  Mr.  Moody's  action 
when  at  one  time  a  man  was  praying  for  all  creation  in  a 


By  Directing  Minds  to  Sources  oj  Help         241 

public  meeting  and  Mr.  Moody  finally  said :  "Let  us  now 
sing  the  63rd  hymn,  while  the  brother  is  finishing  his  prayer." 
It  was  not  an  irreverence;  it  was  not  a  discourtesy.  It  was 
a  relief  of  a  long-suffering  congregation, — a  needed  relief, 
and  I  believe  that  it  did  good  to  all  concerned,  among  the 
rest  to  the  man  who  was  praying;  that  is,  provided  he  was  a 
good  man. 

Public  vs.  Private  Prayers 
I  heard  Mr.  Moody  once  say  another  thing  which  I 
have  always  remembered.  The  remark  was  something  like 
this:  "Men  generally  pray  in  public  In  inverse  proportion 
to  their  private  prayers.  If  they  pray  a  great  deal  in  private, 
they  are  apt  to  be  rather  short  in  public  prayer.  If  they 
pray  very  little  in  private,  they  are  in  danger  of  being 
more  lengthy."  I  do  not  say  that  this  is  a  rule ;  I  do  not 
believe  in  any  rule  for  prayer  except  the  rule  which  I  have 
indicated.  Praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  only  safe  thing 
for  any  man  to  undertake.  Persons  who  do  this  will  pray 
wisely  and  God  will  direct  them  to  the  things  which  they 
ought  to  do,  and  this  is  one  way  In  which  He  will  answer 
their  prayers.  I  believe  there  are  a  thousand  hearts  which, 
as  they  read  these  words,  will  respond  to  them  with  an 
affirmation  that  this  is  the  manner  in  which  God  has  at  times 
aided  them. 


Chapter  III 
BY  CHANGING  THE  ORDER  OF  NATURE 


FOREWORD 

"To  understand  grace,  to  understand  Christ  aright,  we 
must  understand  what  sin  is.  And  how  otherwise  can  we 
come  to  this  understanding  than  through  the  light  of  God 
and  His  Word? 

"Come  with  me  to  the  beginning  of  the  Bible.  See 
there  man  created  by  God,  after  His  image,  and  pro- 
nounced by  his  Creator  to  be  very  good.  Then  sin  en- 
tered, as  rebellion  against  God.  Adam  was  driven  out 
of  Paradise,  and  was  brought  along  with  the  untold  mil- 
lions of  following  generations  under  curse  and  ruin. 
That  was  the  work  of  sin.  Here  we  learn  its  nature 
and  power. 

"Come  further  on,  and  see  the  Ark  of  Noah  on  Ararat. 
So  terrible  had  godlessness  become  among  men,  God  saw 
nothing  for  it  but  to  destroy  man  from  off  the  earth. 
That  was  the  work  of  sin. 

"Come  once  more  with  me,  to  Sinai.  God  wished  to 
establish  His  covenant  with  a  new  nation — with  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel.  But  because  of  man's  sinfulness,  He  can 
do  this  only  by  appearing  In  darkness  and  lightning  so 
terrible  that  Moses  said:  'I  exceedingly  fear  and  quake.* 
And  before  the  end  of  the  giving  of  the  law,  that  awful 
message  came:  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not 
in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law 
to  do  them.'  It  was  sin  which  made  that  necessary."— 
Andrevj  Murray. 


CHAPTER  III 
BY  CHANGING  THE  ORDER  OF  NATURE 

IT  is  a  most  remarkable  fact  that  anyone  who  professes 
to  be  a  Christian  should  ever  doubt  the  power  of  God 
to  change  the  order  of  nature.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
those  who  have  this  impression  have  never  really  understood 
what  it  involves  or  they  would  either  cease  to  call  them- 
selves Christians,  or  cease  to  doubt  the  wonder-working 
power  of  God.  The  alternative  of  theism  is  atheism,  pan- 
theism, polytheism.  Any  false  faith  when  fairly  tested  will 
appear  to  be  simply  the  denial  of  the  existence  of  God. 
False  gods  are  no  gods;  that  is,  they  are  not  gods,  and  since 
the  mind  as  well  as  the  universe  at  large  is  constructed  on 
the  basis  of  truth,  they  must  in  the  end  appear  to  be  what 
they  are.  The  man,  then,  who  doubts  God  to  be  what  He 
has  represented  Himself  to  be,  in  his  heart  says:  "No  God," 
with  his  head  he  tries  to  say:  "There  is  no  God,"  with  his 
lips,  occasionally  he  arrives  at  this  depth  of  depravity. 

The  Virgin  Birth 
It  is  one  of  the  blunders  which  people  make  to  discuss 
details  where  the  establishing  of  the  general  principle  will 
settle  all.  The  atonement,  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  real 
conversions  among  men,  all  these  things  are  doubted.  Men 
make  them  the  subject  of  long  and  exhaustive  inquiry.  The 
fundamental  question  is  as  to  the  supernatural.  Who  made 
the  universe?    Is  it  a  result  of  chance?    Did  it  happen  to  be 

245 


246  Getting  Things  From  God 

as  it  is,  with  its  marvelous  order,  with  its  wonderful  evi- 
dences of  design,  or  did  it  have  an  intelligent,  all-powerful 
Creator?  If  the  world  was  made  by  God,  did  God  put 
it  beyond  His  power?  If  He  created  the  world  and  launched 
it  on  its  career,  could  He  cause  it  to  pause  if  He  desired?  If 
He  creates  millions  of  human  beings  under  the  laws  of  or- 
dinary descent,  could  He  create  beings  otherwise  if  He 
chose?  If  He  causes  the  world  to  spring  into  new  life 
every  year  and  day,  and  makes  dull  earth  exhibit  forms  of 
beauty  on  every  side,  could  He  speak  life  into  the  body 
of  a  man  who  had  ceased  to  breathe?  It  is  a  matter  of  great 
patience  that  persons  who  call  themselves  theists,  to  say 
nothing  of  Christians,  should  pick  flaws  in  one  miracle  or 
another  as  if  it  were  a  great  marvel.  Why  do  not  such 
persons  declare  themselves  atheists  at  once  ?  Perhaps  because 
salaries  are  involved.  Perhaps  because  atheism  has  rather 
a  bad  reputation  for  ordinary  decency.  Perhaps  because  they 
are  simply  defective  in  their  methods  of  thought.  By  this 
time  men  should  understand  that  if  they  wish  to  affect  the 
public  mind  they  must  attain  to  at  least  some  degree  of 
sequence  in  thinking. 

The  man  who  doubts  the  possibilities  of  miracles  is,  as 
I  have  said  before,  simply  an  atheist.  He  may  not  know 
the  fact,  he  may  not  know  what  an  atheist  is,  but  undoubt- 
edly he  is  an  atheist,  for  if  there  is  a  God,  then  certainly 
He  will  work  like  a  God.  It  is  natural  for  every  being  to 
act  according  to  his  own  character. 

He  Might,  but  Will  He? 
This  is  a  question  not  as  to  the  power  but  as  to  the  dis- 
position of  God.     All  except  atheists  believe  that  God  can 
interfere   with   the   administration    of    the   universe   if  He 


By  Changing  the  Order  of  Nature  247 

pleases,  but  will  He  do  it?     This  depends  upon  need  and 
disposition. 

Suppose  a  widow  has  two  sons  and  they  are  about  to  be 
led  into  slavery  because  she  cannot  pay  her  debts.  She  has 
no  natural  means  of  securing  the  money.  God  could  sup- 
ply it  any  way  He  pleases.  He  could  direct  some  person 
who  has  it  to  bring  it  to  her.  He  could  open  a  vein  of 
gold  on  the  side  of  a  hill  just  as  He  opens  a  spring  of  water. 
There  is  no  more  supernatural  power  required  in  the  one 
case  than  in  the  other.  He  could  multiply  oil  in  a  vessel  as 
easily  as  He  can  increase  oil  in  a  tree.  But  will  He  do  this? 
That  depends  on  the  need  and  on  His  disposition,  li  the 
woman  has  need  and  if  God  is  disposed  to  supply  it,  cer- 
tainly He  will  supply  it.  In  what  way  will  He  supply  it? 
In  whatever  way  He  chooses.  But  one  man  says:  "I  should 
think  He  would  supply  it  in  this  way,"  and  another  man 
says:  "I  should  think  He  would  supply  it  in  that  way," 
and  God  will  not  take  counsel  of  either  of  these  men  but 
will  supply  the  need,  if  He  so  wills,  in  His  own  way. 

He  Might,  but  Has  He  Done  So? 

We  are  now  not  on  a  question  of  disposition  or  power, 
but  on  a  question  of  evidence.  It  is  alleged  that  God  has 
interfered  with  the  order  of  nature  repeatedly,  that  He  has 
caused  sick  people  who  would  naturally  require  a  good  while 
to  get  well  even  if  they  did  not  die,  to  be  recovered  in  an 
instant  of  time.  It  is  reported  that  He  has  cleansed  lepers 
by  a  touch  and  a  word,  that  He  has  opened  the  eyes  of  men 
born  blind  and  enabled  men  hopelessly  crippled  to  walk  and 
run  and  leap.  It  is  declared  that  He  has  quickened  into  life 
a  child  who  had  been  dead  for  an  hour,  a  young  man  who 


248  Getting  Things  From  God 

had  been  dead  for  half  a  day,  another  young  man  who  had 
lain  in  the  grave  for  three  days.  There  is  no  argument 
among  Christians,  not  even  among  theists,  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  this.  There  is  no  discussion  among  Christians  as 
to  God's  disposition  to  do  work  of  this  kind,  provided  there 
were  sufficient  need. 

We  are  now  in  the  region  of  evidence, — testimony.  We 
know  some  things  through  our  senses,  we  see,  or  smell, 
touch,  taste.  We  know  other  things  through  conscious- 
ness. We  enjoy,  suffer,  remember,  imagine,  hope,  fear,  and 
we  know  that  we  do  these  things.  We  have  some  knowl- 
edge derived  from  reason,  neither  from  the  senses  nor  from 
consciousness.  We  know  that  space  is  without  bounds,  that 
duration  is  without  end,  that  causes  produce  results,  that 
results  are  produced  by  causes.  We  know  that  causes  must 
be  adequate.     We  know  that  they  must  be  appropriate. 

If  a  man  tells  us  that  one  morning  in  the  Alps,  he  picked 
up  Mount  Blanc  and  threw  it  over  into  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  we  know  that  this  is  not  true.  We  know  that  the  as- 
signed cause  is  not  equal  to  the  alleged  effect,  so  we  know 
some  things  by  testimony.  Most  of  us  know  the  interior  of 
Africa  in  this  way,  if  at  all.  We  have  never  been  there. 
Consciousness  tells  us  nothing  about  it.  Reason  tells  us 
nothing  about  it.  Persons  who  have  been  there  do.  Ad- 
miral Peary  said  that  there  was  a  certain  piece  of  land  in  the 
Arctic  regions.  This  year  explorers  are  said  to  have  gone 
to  that  point  and  found  an  ocean.  Either  Mr.  Peary  did  not 
tell  what  was  true,  or  the  patch  of  land  which  he  said 
existed  in  that  quarter  of  the  globe  disappeared  between  the 
time  of  his  visit,  and  the  investigation  of  this  year.  But  we 
depend  upon  testimony.  We  have  the  right  to  depend  upon 
testimony. 


By  Changing  the  Order  oj  Nature  24g 

The  Value  of  Testimony 

The  value  of  testimony  depends  upon  the  competence, 
the  Integrity,  the  interest  and  the  number  of  witnesses.  An 
unlettered  plowman  cannot  tell  us  about  our  distance  from 
the  sun.  A  skilled  astronomer  who  has  never  farmed,  can- 
not tell  us  the  best  methods  of  raising  corn.  Each  man  is 
entitled  to  bear  testimony  to  what  he  knows  and  to  nothing 
else.  A  liar  is  not  believed,  nor  Is  a  man  of  no  Integrity  or 
character.  We  believe  some  men  when  they  make  the  most 
absurd  statements  because  we  know  them  to  be  men  of  stern 
integrity.  We  doubt  other  men's  statements  when  they  are 
not  In  themselves  at  all  Improbable,  simply  because  we  know 
the  men  are  untruthful.  As  between  two  persons  of  these 
two  sorts  giving  opposite  testimony,  we  always  and  neces- 
sarily believe  the  man  of  solid  character.  We  have  to  be- 
lieve him.  We  are  so  constructed  that  we  cannot  avoid  it, 
and  we  do  not  believe  the  other  man.  We  are  so  constructed 
that  we  cannot  believe  him  even  if  we  wish  to. 

It  is  also  In  evidence  that  the  personal  interest  of  wit- 
nesses has  much  to  do  with  the  value  of  their  testimony.  If 
I  make  a  certain  statement  for  which  I  receive  ten  thousand 
dollars  in  gold,  my  testimony  may  be  very  true,  but  it  Is  not 
so  forceful  as  It  would  be  if  I  m.ade  the  same  statement, 
knowing  that  for  the  making  I  should  lose  all  that  I  possess. 
If  a  man  testifies  with  the  known  probability  that  he  will 
be  Imprisoned,  perhaps  crucified,  his  testimony  Is  more  valu- 
able than  would  be  the  testimony  of  another  person  on  the 
same  subject,  who,  because  of  his  testimony,  would  receive 
the  gifts  of  houses  and  lands.  These  are  commonplaces,  but 
they  are  oftentimes  forgotten  by  people  who  speak  on  re- 
ligious subjects. 

If  men  who  write  books  on  prayer,  on  the  authenticity 


2J0  '      Getting  Things  From  God 

and  integrity  of  the  Scriptures,  were  subject  to  cross-exam- 
ination as  are  witnesses  in  a  human  court,  we  should  be 
spared  a  lot  of  folly  which  nov*^  cumbers  book-shelves  for  a 
while  and  then  goes  back  to  the  paper  makers.  It  is  obvious 
that  the  testimony  of  a  dozen  witnesses  of  good  character  is 
more  weighty  than  the  testimony  of  one  witness  of  good 
character.  One  man  may  be  mistaken  regarding  the  ques- 
tion of  fact  when  he  is  sincerely  endeavoring  to  state  the 
exact  truth.  A  dozen  persons  might  be  mistaken,  but  the 
probabilities  of  error  in  the  latter  case  are  very  few  com- 
paratively. 

Does  God  Interfere  in  the  Order  of  Nature? 

My  gifts  are  the  gift  of  the  teacher.  I  never  had  the 
gift  of  prophecy,  nor  the  gift  of  healing,  nor  the  distinctive 
gifts  of  a  pastor.  Without  my  desire,  without  even  my 
thought,  God  called  me  into  the  high  and  holy  office  of  a 
teacher.  In  that  office  he  has  continued  me  for  more  than  fifty 
years  since  I  taught  my  first  public  school  in  Cook  County, 
Illinois.  I  praise  Him  for  this  high  honor.  In  my  work 
as  a  teacher  I  have  been  a  guest  in  many  homes  and  people 
have  always  been  exceedingly  kind  to  me.  They  have  given 
to  me  comforts  which  they  deny  themselves,  frequently  they 
have  given  me  the  best  room  in  their  houses.  They  have 
provided  their  tables  with  delicacies  for  me  which  they  did 
not  ordinarily  enjoy  themselves,  and  in  these  many  homes, 
I  have  oftentimes  found  the  afflicted,  aged  ones,  sick  ones, 
defective  ones,  and  many  a  time  1  have  wished  that  I  had 
power  to  heal,  that  I  might  make  some  small  return  to  these 
dear  Christian  people  for  their  many  kindnesses  to  me,  and 
some  years  ago  I  began  to  pray  on  this  subject. 

I  said :  "Lord,  you  have  made  me  a  teacher.    I  have  not 


By  Changing  the  Order  of  Nature  251 

had  the  gifts  of  healing.  But  people  are  kind  to  me  whcre- 
ever  I  go,  and  oftentimes  they  are  needy.  Many  times  they 
are  suffering.  If  you  are  willing  to  help  me  to  help  them, 
I  should  be  grateful." 

Pra5ang  with  a  Business  Man 
It  was  after  offering  this  prayer,  as  said  in  a  previous 
chapter,  that  I  was  in  New  York,  praying  with  a  brother 
in  his  office,  a  business  office  on  a  busy  street.  It  pleased 
God  to  restore  him  to  soundness  of  health  when  it 
looked  as  if  his  days  were  already  numbered.  Not  long  since, 
in  the  city  of  Chicago,  I  was  in  a  home  where  the  husband 
and  the  wife  were  extremely  kind  to  me.  She  was  suffering 
grievously.  Medical  skill  seemed  utterly  unavailing.  There 
was  no  help  in  it.  We  prayed  together,  her  husband  and  I, 
that  God  would  heal  her,  and  He  did.  Physical  difficulties 
that  were  making  every  moment  a  torture  passed  away  and 
she  became  well.  I  have  broken  bread  in  that  house  many 
a  time  since  and  the  change  is  wonderful  to  behold. 

When  I  was  preaching  in  the  first  church  where  I  held 
forth  the  Word  of  Life  statedly,  there  was  an  elder  who 
Vas  very  kind  to  me.  His  wife  cooked  food  for  me  and 
washed  dishes  and  cared  for  my  room.  Some  time  after- 
ward I  found  her  on  what  was  supposed  to  be  her  death- 
bed. Her  children  had  come  to  see  her  die.  They  lingered 
for  days  to  see  her  die.  If  they  had  kept  on  in  this  way, 
very  likely  she  would  have  died.  When  I  entered  the  room 
I  felt  sure  that  it  was  not  of  the  Lord  that  she  should  die, 
so  I  prayed  for  her  and  asked  God  to  raise  her  up,  and  He 
did.  She  lived  for  many  years  thereafter.  I  believe  she  is 
living  still,  though  her  husband  who  was  expecting  to  bury 
her,  has  already  been  buried. 


2$2  Getting  Things  From  God 

Not  a  great  while  after,  I  was  asked  to  pray  In  a  home 
where  a  little  child  lay  already  apparently  dead.  The  nurse 
had  been  told  that  it  was  unnecessary  to  return,  that  there 
was  nothing  to  be  done.  Two  physicians  told  me  that  there 
was  nothing  to  be  done.  To  me  the  child  looked  practically 
dead  already.  There  was  no  color;  there  was  no  apparent 
breath.  The  little  fellow  seemed  all  ready  to  be  buried. 
That  was  at  11  o'clock  in  the  morning.  At  5  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  the  pink  had  come  back  into  his  cheeks  and  he 
was  sleeping  peacefully,  quietly,  breathing  as  well  as  you 
do, — ^perhaps  better.  He  went  through  my  yard  the  other 
day, — a  stout  little  lad  of  five  or  six  years.  I  said  to  my 
wife:  "Is  not  that  the  baby  for  whom  we  prayed?"  and 
she  said:  "Yes,  it  is  he."  If  only  I  had  known  how  to  pray 
earlier,  if  only  I  had  lived  more  humbly,  I  am  sure  it  would 
have  kept  death  out  of  my  ovm  house.  Since  I  learned  to 
pray,  I  am  sure  that  God  has  done  this  for  me. 

It  seems  to  me  the  most  stupid  thing  for  men  to  profess 
to  doubt  the  power  of  God  or  the  disposition  of  God  to  heal 
the  sick  or  even,  if  He  pleases,  to  raise  the  dead.  I  have  seen 
a  dry  and  burning  earth  on  which  for  weeks  no  rain  had 
fallen,  softened  and  freshened,  cleared  and  vivified  by  refresh- 
ing showers  that  followed  prayer  for  rain,  prayer  in  church, 
prayer  in  our  home  circle,  prayer  In  my  own  room.  People 
who  profess  to  know  occasionally  tell  me  that  there  is  no 
connection  between  these  prayers  and  the  results  which  fol- 
lowed. I  am  not  careful  to  answer  them.  I  am  a  witness 
to  the  facts.  I  know  them  to  be  true.  I  believe  the  story 
of  Elijah  as  easily  as  I  believe  that  the  sun  will  rise  tomor- 
row. It  Is  not  an  effort  for  my  faith.  It  seems  to  me  per- 
fectly natural  that  God  should  In  a  time  like  Elijah's  put 
the  pow^r  to  open  and  close  the  skies  into  a  human  hand. 


By  Changing  the  Order  oj  Nature  255 

I  believe  today  that  if  ministers  were  like  him  in  their 
humility,  in  their  obedience,  in  their  self-denial,  it  would 
be  perfectly  possible  for  God  to  trust  them  with  the  key  to 
the  skies.  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  of  it  and  that  He 
would  do  so,  too,  but  a  fleshly,  ease-loving,  man-honoring, 
time-serving  church  will  have  very  little  power  about  the 
skies.  It  will  have  very  little  faith  because  it  has  very 
little  power.  I  have  seen  even  demons  go  out  of  my  chil- 
dren. I  have  known  them  to  go  out  of  my  own  heart.  I 
have  seen  them  go  out  of  the  hearts  of  other  people  in  an- 
swer to  prayer.  Why  should  it  be  thought  incredible  with 
men  that  God  should  change  the  order  of  nature?  If  He 
created  it  and  if  there  is  good  and  sufficient  reason  for  alter- 
ation, why  should  He  not  pull  the  reversing  lever?  If  men 
can  steer  a  big  motor  car  forward,  backward  or  around  an 
obstacle,  why  should  not  God  propel  a  world  or  a  nation 
or  an  individual  in  like  manner? 

A  Great  Multitude  of  Witnesses 
My  readers  will  observe  that  I  speak  from  the  Word  of 
God  and  my  own  experiences.  I  do  this  because  it  is  my 
duty  and  not  because  I  undervalue  the  testimony  of  my 
brethren.  Their  testimony  they  have  given  as  they  were  in 
duty  bound,  and  it  is  recorded  for  the  benefit  of  all  who 
will  attend.  The  wonderful  stories  related  by  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  H.  L.  Hastings  of  Boston,  by  J.  Hudson  Taylor  of 
the  China  Inland  Mission,  by  Charles  G.  Finney,  the  great 
president  of  Oberlin  College,  by  George  Miiller,  and  the 
uncounted  host  of  men  and  women  who  have  obtained  gifts 
from  -God  by  strange  interferences  with  the  course  of  na- 
ture, with  the  hearts  of  men, — I  believe  in  their  testimony 
and  rejoice  in  it.     I  praise  God  for  it. 


2§4  .      Getting  Things  From  God 

I  would  that  burdened  ones  who  have  never  learned  that 
God  can  and  does  interfere  in  human  affairs  for  the  good  of 
His  people  might  also  read  and  believe.  I  do  not  believe 
that  there  is  any  one  thing  which  burdened,  sick,  perplexed, 
harassed,  tempted,  tempest-tossed,  despondent,  despairing 
people  need  like  this  faith  of  God  and  it  is  free  for  the 
asking.  "Whosoever  will,  let  him  take  of  the  water  of 
life  freely"   (Rev.  22:17). 


Chapter  IV 
BY  CHANGING  THE  HEARTS  OF  MEN 


FOREWORD 

"It  is  in  this  element  that  the  pulpit  oftener  fails  than 
in  any  other  element.  Just  at  this  all-important  point  it 
lapses.  Learning  it  may  have,  brilliancy  and  eloquence 
may  delight  and  charm,  sensation  or  less  offensive  methods 
may  bring  the  populace  in  crowds,  mental  power  may 
impress  and  enforce  truth  with  all  its  resources;  but  with- 
out this  unction,  each  and  all  these  will  be  but  as  the 
fretful  assault  of  the  waters  on  a  Gibraltar.  Spray  and 
foam  may  cover  and  spangle;  but  the  rocks  are  there 
still,  unimpressed  and  unimpressible.  The  human  heart 
can  no  more  be  swept  of  its  hardness  and  sin  by  these 
human  forces  than  these  rocks  can  be  swept  away  by 
the  ocean's  ceaseless  flow. 

"This  unction  is  the  consecration  force,  and  its  presence 
the  continuous  test  of  that  consecration.  It  is  this  divine 
anointing  on  the  preacher  that  secures  his  consecration 
to  God  and  his  work.  Other  forces  and  motives  may 
call  him  to  the  work,  but  this  only  is  consecration.  A 
separation  to  God's  work  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  the  only  consecration  recognized  by  God  as  legitimate. 

"The  unction,  the  divine  unction,  this  heavenly  anoint- 
ing, is  what  the  pulpit  needs  and  must  have.  This  divine 
and  heavenly  oil  put  on  it  by  the  imposition  of  God's 
hand  must  soften  and  lubricate  the  whole  man — heart, 
head,  spirit — until  it  separates  him  with  a  mighty  separa- 
tion from  all  earthly,  secular,  worldly,  selfish  motives 
and  aims,  separating  him  to  everything  that  is  pure  and 
Godlike."— £.  M.  Bounds, 


CHAPTER  IV 
BY  CHANGING  THE  HEARTS  OF  MEN 

I  HAVE  referred  several  times  in  this  writing  to  the 
fact  that  God,  in  answer  to  prayer,  changes  the  hearts 
of  men.  I  desire,  since  the  matter  is  of  such  impor- 
tance, to  deal  with  it,  if  not  more  explicitly,  at  least  at  some- 
what greater  length,  for  our  lives  are  determined  very  largely 
by  the  lives  of  those  about  us  and  in  turn  our  lives  affect 
them  and  if  in  either  case  the  influence  is  unhappy,  there 
is  call  for  change.  I  suppose  that  the  average  man  would 
say  that  it  would  be  easier  for  God  to  change  a  man's  mind 
than  to  send  water  out  of  a  rock  or  bread  from  the  clouds. 
I  look  upon  this  impression  as  absolutely  mistaken.  In  my 
judgment,  it  is  far  easier  to  change  the  order  of  things  than 
to  change  the  movements  of  a  human  soul. 

I  believe  that  a  real  conversion  is  a  far  greater  marvel 
than  a  resurrection  from  the  dead.  I  may  be  mistaken ;  I 
hope  I  am,  but  it  is  my  conviction  that  men  who  doubt 
God's  power  to  interfere  with  nature  doubt  His  power  to 
interfere  with  human  souls.  I  think  that  most  of  them 
in  their  heart  of  hearts  disbelieve  in  the  regeneration  of  a 
human  soul.  They  all  believe  in  the  duty  of  improvement 
and  the  possibility  of  improvement,  but  so  far  as  I  am 
acquainted  with  them  they  doubt  miraculous  changes  in  hu- 
man souls.  I  do  not  know  what  they  make  of  such  Bible 
records  as  that  concerning  Saul.  I  do  not  see  how  they  can 
believe  that.    If  they  did  it  occurs  to  me  that  they  would  find 

257 


2s8  Getting  Things  From  God 

it  easy  to  believe  that  God,  in  case  of  need,  could  do  such 
work  nowadays  and  that  if  there  were  a  reason  for  it,  He 
would  do  it,  but  leaving  this  question  to  those  concerned, 
I  wish  to  record  here  my  faith  that  God  oftentimes  answers 
our  prayers  by  changing  the  hearts  of  men;  that  is,  He 
grants  us  the  thing  that  we  desire  by  bringing  an  influence 
to  bear  on  the  hearts  of  individuals,  so  that  they  cease  to 
hinder  and  become  helpers  toward  the  thing  which  we  right- 
fully ask  from  God,  which  we  ask  in  the  name  of  Jesus, 
which  we  ask  praying  in.  the  Spirit,  which  we  ask  having  the 
mind  of  Christ. 

Abusive  Husbands 

I  read  many  years  ago  of  a  wife  who  had  become  a  Chris- 
tian. Her  husband  was  one  of  the  coarse,  loud-mouthed, 
ill-mannered,  indecent  heathen  that  we  occasionally  find  in 
Christian  lands.  He  objected  to  her  going  to  the  meetings. 
He  threatened  that  if  she  did  not  discontinue  her  interest  in 
her  soul's  welfare,  that  he  would  turn  her  out  of  the  house  and 
she  had  had  abundant  occasion  in  a  heart-broken  married 
life  to  know  that  he  was  capable  of  doing  all  that  he  threat- 
ened, but,  deprived  of  most  of  the  comforts  of  this  life,  she 
had  made  up  her  mind  that  she  would  not  fail  of  the  life 
eternal  and  so,  with  many  prayers,  she  went  steadfastly  on. 

At  last  the  time  came  when  members  were  to  be  received 
into  the  church  where  the  meetings  were  being  held.  She 
had  already  confessed  her  faith  as  a  Christian ;  she  had  asked 
for  admission  into  the  church.  Her  demonized  husband  said 
to  her  during  the  week  preceding  the  Sabbath  on  which 
members  were  to  be  received:  "Do  you  intend  to  join  the 
church?"  She  said:  "Yes,  husband,  I  do."  "Well,"  he 
said,  "you  understand  that  when  you  join  that  church  you 


ByChanging  the  Hearts  of  Men  2^9 

go  out  of  this  house."  "Yes,"  she  said,  "I  understand," 
and  still  she  waited  in  heart  before  God  and  kept  waiting. 
At  last  the  day  came — Sabbath  morning.  They  lived  some 
miles  from  the  village.  She  had  been  walking  to  and  from 
the  meetings  though  there  were  plenty  of  horses  and  convey- 
ances on  the  premises. 

This  Sabbath  morning  early,  he  again  questioned  her  as 
to  her  purpose  and  she  again  declared  her  intention  of  going 
forward  to  unite  with  the  church.  Once  more  he  threatened 
her  with  banishment  from  home  should  she  so  do,  and  still 
once  again  she  declared  her  mtention  of  obeying  God  rather 
than  man.  He  was  ill  at  ease — demonized  persons  are  always 
ill  at  ease.  If  one  possessed  by  the  demon  of  pride,  or  vanity, 
or  lust,  or  lying,  or  dishonesty,  or  any  other  demon,  reads 
these  words,  he  shall  be  my  witness.  He  was  ill  at  ease. 
The  sky  rebuked  him.  The  earth  rebuked  him.  His  own 
heart  rebuked  him.  God  rebuked  him  and  at  last,  surrender- 
ing to  God,  he  came  into  the  house  and  said  to  his  wife: 
"I  will  have  the  team  ready  shortly."  The  evil  spirit  went 
out  and  Christ  came  in. 

Murders  by  the  War  of  Lords 

How  are  we  to  explain  the  fact  that  rulers  who  call 
themselves  Christians  can  grind  the  faces  of  millions  of 
peasants  to  build  guns  and  warships  and  rifles  and  prepare 
ammunition  and  train  millions  of  men  to  kill  one  an- 
other, with  no  cause  to  kill  one  another,  by  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands,  to 
widow  wives,  to  orphan  children,  to  destroy  all  the  foun- 
dations of  moral  excellencies  among  the  people?  How 
are  we  to  explain  the  fact  that  these  miserable  enemies  of  the 
human   race  can  do  such   things  as   they   are  doing  before 


26o  ,      Getting  Things  From  God 

our  eyes  todaj'.  There  is  only  one  explanation.  They  arc 
demonized  and  why  arc  not  these  demons  cast  out?  Largely 
because  the  preachers  to  whom  these  men  have  listened  do 
not  believe  in  the  miracle-working  power  of  God  at  all. 
They  have  for  fifty  or  one  hundred  years  been  teaching  that 
it  is  impossible  for  God  to  work  miracles,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible that  Jesus  should  have  been  born  as  the  Bible  says 
He  was. 

It  is  impossible  that  He  should  have  wrought  the 
works  which  the  Bible  assigns  to  Him.  It  is  impossible 
that  His  death  should  have  a  redemptive  character  so  that 
He  wasi  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  bruised  for  our 
iniquities,  and  that  by  His  stripes  we  should  be  healed. 
They  have  been  teaching  that  it  is  impossible  that  He  should 
have  risen  from  the  dead,  that  He  should  have  ascended 
quietly  from  the  Mount  of  Olives  until  clouds  received  Him 
out  of  their  sight.  All  these  things  are  declared  to  be  im- 
possible by  these  preachers  who  have  been  instructing  these 
war  lords. 

And  what  is  the  natural  result?  Precisely  what  you 
see  before  you, — men  who  believe  In  no  God,  men  who  be- 
lieve in  the  righteousness  of  wholesale  murder  and  slaughter, 
who  can  see  men  piled  up  with  wood  between  the  layers  of 
men,  the  bodies  of  dear  young  fellows,  the  kisses  of  their  moth- 
ers yet  warm  upon  their  lips,  reduced  to  ashes  or  ground 
up  in  the  mire  by  the  wheels  of  the  guns.  We  shall  have 
more  of  these  wars,  of  course  we  shall  have  more,  until 
men  repent  and  turn  to  God  and  unless  some  way  or  other 
they  come  to  believe  that  the  God  who  made  the  world  can 
rule  It,  that  the  God  who  made  man  can  change  the  heart 
of  man. 


By  Changing  the  Hearts  of  Men  261 

One  of  My  Fellow  Students 
I  remember  him  well, — a  bl^  black-haired,  black-eyed 
fellow,  kind  and  honest  and  true  when  I  knew  him,  yet 
only  a  short  time  before  a  beastly  drunkard,  terrible  in 
fight  because  of  his  physical  strength  and  spiritual  reckless- 
ness, so  that  men  were  afraid  when  they  saw  him  coming. 
In  a  camp  meeting  it  was  preached  that  God  answered 
prayer,  that  He  changed  the  hearts  and  lives  of  men,  that 
men  who  could  not  manage  themselves  could  get  God  to 
manage  them,  and  he  believed  it  and  according  to  his  faith 
it  was  unto  him.  How  beautiful  his  life  was  as  a  young 
man, — so  clean  and  gentle.  It  was  a  glory  to  God  to  sec 
a  human  soul  so  transformed  and  he  being  transformed, 
of  course  his  works  were  transformed.  He  did  the  things 
he  did  not  use  to  do,  and  he  omitted  the  things  in  which 
he  formerly  delighted,  and  so  God  is  doing  always. 

I  knew  of  a  man  whose  moral  life  was  exemplary  In 
every  respect  but  one.  He  was  a  greedy  man.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  church.  He  supported  the  church,  but  he 
loved  money.  He  paid  money  to  support  the  church  because 
he  ruled  it,  because  it  enabled  him  to  show  his  power  over 
his  brethren,  and  still  he  gathered  up  and  put  away.  His 
minister  went  to  see  him  on  a  sick  bed  and  was  faithful 
to  him.  He  said  to  him:  "Brother,  you  are  sick  because 
you  are  selfish.  If  you  do  not  get  victory  over  your  greed 
and  avarice,  you  will  probably  die.  I  fear  that  your  very 
soul  is  in  peril.  Certainly  your  life  is  being  lost."  TTie 
minister  went  away.  The  sick  miser  was  angry;  at  the  same 
time  he  was  unable  to  get  away  from  the  truth. 

There  came  to  his  house  not  a  great  while  thereafter  a 
poor  missionary  from  China,  heart-broken  with  the  miseries 
of  the  uncounted  millions,  willing  to  risk  his  own  life,  to 


262  Getting  Things  From  God 

sacrifice  his  comfort,  to  live  an  exile  from  his  home  and 
friends,  if  only  he  could  see  salvation  ior  the  poor  Chinese. 
He  knew  the  reputation  of  this  miserly  church  member.  He 
knew  that  there  was  no  human  reason  to  suppose  that  he 
could  receive  a  penny  from  him.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
knew  that  he  would  be  welcomed  in  his  house,  for  it  was  a 
part  of  his  office  as  lord  of  the  church  to  take  care  of  guests. 
He  was  glad  to  have  them  in  his  splendid  house.  They  cost 
him  nothing,  practically,  and  they  ministered  to  his  vanity 
and  self-conceit.  So  this  poor  missionary  was  free  to  go  to 
the  house,  and  having  traveled  all  up  and  down  the  Atlantic 
coast,  barely  receiving  his  travelling  expenses,  he  had  given 
up  hope  and  said  nothing  to  this  stingy  church  member  about 
his  work. 

Ordinarily  the  man  did  not  care  to  hear  about  such 
work.  He  liked  to  talk  about  himself  and  what  he  had 
done  and  what  he  was  proposing  to  do,  but  on  this  occasion 
he  was  strangely  moved  to  inquire  about  the  work  in  China. 
The  missionary,  of  course,  was  glad  to  tell  him  about  the 
experiences  of  months.  The  weight  of  the  burden  on  his 
heart  had  so  benumbed  him  that  he  did  not  even  then  have 
any  expectation  of  relief  from  this  source.  He  knew  he 
was  welcome  to  stay,  that  he  would  have  a  good  room  in 
which  to  sleep  and  plenty  of  good  food  to  eat,  and  that 
was  all  that  he  expected  this  man  to  do  for  him  or  for  the 
work. 

The  evening  wore  on,  and  finally  the  rich  man  drew  out 
a  check  book,  filled  in  a  check  and  signed  it,  blotting  it 
and  folding  it  and  handing  It  to  the  missionary,  and  said  to 
him:  "This  will  help  you  some  in  your  work."  Ten  dol- 
lars for  such  a  cause  had  been  a  large  gift  for  that  avaricious 
man.   The  missionary  was  surprised  to  receive  anything.    He 


By  Changing  the  Hearts  of  Men  26^ 

sorely  needed  $25,000  to  put  up  buildings,  that  the  workers 
might  be  housed  and  that  the  work  might  go  forward. 
When  he  reached  his  room,  still  numbed,  almost  paralyzed 
with  his  burden,  he  opened  this  check.  It  was  a  check  for 
$25,000,  good  in  any  bank  in  the  money  world!  It  lifted 
his  load  and  sent  him  on  his  way — to  bury  himself  in  China 
with  a  thankful  heart. 

God  Can  Move  the  Human  Heart 

People  who  do  not  know  that  God  can  change  the  hearts 
of  other  folk  are  greatly  to  be  pitied.  People  who  know 
that  God  can  do  this  and  that  He  does  do  this  in  answer  to 
prayer  and  thus  answers  many  other  prayers,  if  they  fail 
to  exercise  this  God-given  privilege,  are  greatly  to  blame. 
Who  of  us  is  there  who  can  plead  not  guilty  to  the  one  or 
the  other  of  these  infidelities?  Some  of  us  do  not  know 
that  God  can  really  change  the  hearts  of  man.  We  think 
if  they  are  changed  we  are  to  change  them  and  beyond 
doubt,  we  have  our  work  to  perform  in  this  direction,  but 
we  can  never  change  the  hearts  of  men. 

We  cannot  change  even  our  own  hearts.  We  have  many 
of  us  tried  to  a  thousand  times  and  failed.  How  then 
shall  we  change  the  hearts  of  others?  And  if  men's  liearts 
are  not  changed,  then  many  prayers  which  we  have  put  up 
or  which  we  suppose  ourselves  to  have  oflFered,  must  remain 
unanswered,  for  God  operates  very  largely  through  men  and 
He  operates  through  men  according  to  their  hearts.  If 
their  hearts  are  wrong,  the  work  they  do  will  be  wrong. 
If  their  hearts  are  changed  and  become  right,  then  their 
works  will  be  changed.  Oh  that  there  might  be  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  today 
a  new  and  vital  faith  in  the  power  of  God  to  answer  pray- 
ers by  changing  the  hearts  of  men. 


264  '      Getting  Things  From  God 

How  many  fathers  and  mothers  would  find  the  task  of 
lifting  their  children  lightened.  How  many  pastors  would 
find  all  the  schemes  of  the  church  vivified,  quickened  into 
new  life  because  the  hearts  of  officers  and  people  had  been 
vivified  and  quickened  into  new  life.  How  many  teachers 
would  find  their  task  lightened,  their  burdens  fall  away,  if 
they  could  only  believe  that  God  can  change  the  hearts  of 
men  and  thus  answer  their  prayers.  Of  what  use  is  it  to 
scold,  to  fret,  to  whine,  when  we  have  access  to  the  throne 
of  God  and  when  God  can  change  the  lives  of  men,  and 
changing  the  lives  of  men,  provide  means,  remove  difficul- 
ties, energize  in  every  way  the  good  things  which  His  hon- 
est people  desire  to  see  done. 


Chapter  V 
A  FEW  WORDS  AT  PARTING 


FOREWORD 

"But  even  -while  the  Spirit  thus  prays  in  our  behalf, 
He  is  teaching  us  more  and  more  to  pray  correctly  for 
ourselves,  and  as  we  advance  in  the  art,  His  own  inter- 
cession becoming  thereby  more  and  more  superfluous,  He 
takes  up  his  work  in  our  own  prayers,  and  cries  unto 
God  through  human  lips.  His  praying  for  us  gives  place 
more  and  more  to  His  praying  with  us.  While  He  is 
praying  for  us,  He  is  at  the  some  time  teaching  us  bet- 
ter how  to  pray  for  ourselves,  that  gradually  His  own 
independent  praying  may  become  superfluous;  not  that 
it  will  ever  in  this  life  become  wholly  superfluous,  for 
even  in  our  most  advanced  state  on  earth  we  will  still 
have  our  limitations,  and  be  circumscribed  somewhat  by 
our  infirmity.  Nor  is  it  meant  that  the  Spirit  teaches  us 
to  pray,  that  He  may  leave  us  to  ourselves  in  proportion 
as  His  intercession  becomes  unnecessary,  for  only  as  we 
*pray  in  the  Spirit*  (Judges  20)  can  we  really  pray  at  all." 
^William  E.  Biederivolf. 


CHAPTER  V 
A  FEW  WORDS  AT  PARTING 

I  HAVE  not  reached  the  end  of  my  subject,  but  I  have 
come  to  the  close  of  my  book.  It  is  an  imperfect  at- 
tempt to  share  with  my  fellows  a  few  of  the  blessings 
which  I  have  received  through  the  Holy  Spirit  through  the 
Word  of  God  in  the  life  of  prayer.  If  any  of  those  who 
read  these  words  imagine  that  I  am  setting  myself  before 
them  as  an  example,  that  I  feel  proud  of  what  I  have  been 
in  the  prayer  life,  they  are  quite  mistaken.  I  reproach 
myself  with  ten  thousand  failures  in  the  prayers  I  have 
offered.  I  am  absolutely  sure  that  if  I  had  prayed  better, 
I  should  have  lived  fai  more  efficiently  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  than  I  have. 

But  though  I  have  failed,  God  has  always  been  faithful 
and  I  shall  praise  His  name  throughout  eternity  for  teach- 
ing me  to  pray,  for  giving  me  things  in  answer  to  prayer. 
How  much  happier  I  could  have  made  the  dear  people  in 
my  own  home,  how  much  more  useful  I  could  have  been  in 
my  church,  how  many  more  men  and  women  I  might  have 
sent  into  foreign  fields  as  workers  in  the  harvest  of  God, 
how  many  more  burdened  ones  might  have  found  their  loads 
lightened,  how  many  more  perplexed  ones  might  have  seen  a 
clearer  light  on  the  life  path,  how  many  more  sorrowing 
ones  might  have  been  comforted,  how  many  more  sinking 
ones  might  have  been  saved,  if  only  I  had  known  how  to 
pray  and  had  prayed  as  I  ought. 

267 


268  '      Getting  Things  From  God 

I  find  myself  torn  by  these  conflicting  emotions  of  shame 
and  thanksgiving,  but  if  I  am  to  speak  truly,  I  must 
say  that  the  latter  predominate,  that  God  has  made  it  true 
to  me  that  the  pathway  grows  brighter.  I  know  how  to 
pray  better  than  I  ever  did.  I  have  more  faith  when  I  ask 
than  I  have  ever  had  before.  I  am  less  self-centered  in  my 
prayers  than  I  have  been  and  I  am  sure  that  what  God  has 
done  for  me,  He  waits  to  do  for  all  others  who  have  like 
need  and  who  will  ask  and  receive. 

Let  me  put  the  question  very  kindly,  but  at  the  same  time 
very  plainly  to  my  reader.  Do  you  not  need  more  power, 
or  rather  do  you  not  need  to  use  the  power  that  God  has 
given  you  in  very  different  fashion  from  the  way  in  which 
you  have  employed  it  in  the  past?  Are  there  not  in  your 
body,  in  your  temporal  circumstances,  in  your  spiritual  state, 
in  your  family,  in  your  church  life,  in  your  civic  position, 
things  which  greatly  need  to  be  improved?  Have  you  not 
many  times  sought  to  improve  them,  honestly  done  so  with 
a  sincere  heart,  and  have  you  not  over  and  again  failed? 

Do  You  Need  Help? 

Is  there  not  a  difficulty  in  your  life  somewhere,  some 
failure  to  really  grip  the  power  that  can  lift  you  up  and 
help  you  on  and  make  you  to  others  that  which  you  desire 
to  be?  If  so,  my  brother,  will  you  not  come  with  me,  as 
Andrew  Murray  would  say,  into  the  Saviour's  "school  of 
prayer"?  You  remember  that  when  the  disciples  said  to 
Him:  "Teach  us  to  pray,"  He  did  not  refuse;  He  gave  them 
instruction, — a  model  prayer — and  added  to  it  the  direction 
that  they  were  to  bring  the  petition  in  His  name,  and  prom- 
ised in  many  different  ways  that  the  Father  would  do  for 
them  the  things  which  they  desired  when  they  prayed. 


A  Few  Words  at  Parting  26g 

It  is  my  desire  to  be  of  service  to  you.  In  all  my 
acquaintance  with  men  and  with  churches,  I  have  found 
that  only  as  men  pray  can  they  be  of  real  benefit  to  others, 
of  real  comfort  to  themselves,  a  real  glory  to  God.  It  is 
possible  for  people  to  be  all  this,  and  the  Lord  waits  and  the 
world  waits,  especially  the  church  waits  for  the  day  of  im- 
pulse which  a  change  in  the  prayer  lives  of  men  will  bring. 
Shall  I  add  this  word  in  conclusion,  that  in  my  judgment 
the  great  danger  is  hopelessness.  I  do  not  remember  who  it 
was,  I  think  it  was  one  of  the  Wesleys,  who  said  that  more 
men  are  ruined  by  despondency  than  by  presumption,  that 
they  give  up  because  they  do  not  believe  things  can  be  better, 
therefore  they  live  through  their  lives  in  humdrum,  half- 
hearted fashion,  and  by  and  by  die,  never  having  accom- 
plished the  thing  that  they  desire. 

I  wish  to  encourage  you  from  my  own  experience,  from 
my  observation,  from  the  testimony  of  the  Word  of  God, 
to  believe  that  all  that  you  desire,  and  more  than  you  im- 
agine possible,  you  may  freely  have  by  the  gift  of  Jesus 
Christ,  our  Saviour.  There  is  but  a  single  indispensable 
condition — ^j^ou  must  be  obedient  to  the  Spirit  when  you 
pray.  If  He  says  to  you:  "Confess  that  sin,"  do  not  say, 
"But  it  was  very  small  and  it  was  long  ago,  and  no  one 
knows  of  it  but  Thee  and  me,  and  it  is  not  hurting  any- 
body," and  thus  argue  down  the  Spirit  of  God.  This  is 
fatal;  there  will  be  no  progress  if  you  undertake  to  debate 
with  Him.  If  He  says:  "Give  that  property  or  that  thing." 
get  about  it.  Kneel  down  and  pray,  but  do  not  undertake 
to  pray  while  you  are  willfully  disobedient  to  the  voice  of 
God.  You  cannot  do  it:  that  is  to  say,  you  cannot  really 
pray. 

When   you   pray  you   begin   by   saying:   "Our   Father," 


2yo  Getting  Things  From  God 

and  this  implies  gratitude  and  obedience,  and  If  these  two 
are  wanting  you  cannot  honestly  say:  "Our  Father."  If 
God  bids  you  sacrifice  a  companionship,  an  association,  if 
He  brings  to  your  mind  the  Scriptures  that  call  you  to  be 
separate  from  sinners,  not  to  be  equally  yoked  with  them, 
as'  you  value  your  soul  life  do  not  trifle  with  His  injunction. 

A  Broken  Vow 

I  knew  a  minister  who  was  marching  in  the  Knights 
Templar  parade  In  St.  Louis,  by  the  side  of  a  bartender. 
He  himself  told  me  that  he  feared  that  God  would  strike 
him  dead  as  he  marched  through  the  streets  of  the  city. 
He  told  me  that  he  promised  God  that  If  He  would  spare 
his  life  to  get  back  to  his  church,  he  would  terminate  his 
relations  with  that  order.  But  he  did  not  do  It  and  when 
he  had  broken  his  promise  to  God  he  denied  that  he  had 
made  It.  Such  Is  the  fearful  power  of  sin  in  the  human 
soul.  God  will  do  everything  for  anyone  that  he  will  per- 
mit God  to  do, — I  mean  everything  good.  "No  good  thing 
win  he  withhold  from  them  that  walk  uprightly"  (Psa. 
84:11). 

This  IS  not  true  in  a  general  way,  or  approximately  true ; 
this  is  absolutely  true  and  God  now  waits  to  bestow  peace, 
purity  of  heart,  favor  with  good  men,  opportunities  for 
service,  means  to  accomplish  a  thousand  things  which  those 
who  read  these  pages  desire.  I  say  He  waits  to  bestow  them 
and  will  bestow  them,  if  you  will  ask  and  obey. 


Date  Due 

:    13 -5 

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